Cessation
by cricketchick1990
Summary: Every life must come to an end.  For Kurosaki Ichigo, it was inevitable.  For his family, it was far too soon. IchiRuki.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hello there!_**

**_Here is yet another fic from me. I think I'm on a roll. Knock wood. Thanks to the lovely Feilyn for the virtual kick up the ass with grammar and a little habit I have with punctuation. Well, no much more to say really, just that I hope you enjoy!_**

**_Every life must come to an end. For Kurosaki Ichigo, it was inevitable. For his family, it was far too soon._**

* * *

She could feel that something was wrong the moment that he stepped through the gate. His reiatsu fluctuated wildly, far more than usual.

Confirming her suspicions, he grabbed her by the wrist and with no regard for her safety or dignity, literally dragged her towards her room in the thirteenth's barracks before slamming the door shut behind them and pinning her to it.

He kissed her fiercely, mouth moving over hers desperately over and over again until eventually he pulled away, leaving her breathless. She followed him - she always did - away from the door in a daze and tilted her head up to look at him when he stopped, leaning slightly against his chest.

Letting out a long sigh, he pressed closer and slid both arms around her waist, leaning down to bury his head in her shoulder. She stood on tiptoe to meet him, skimming her hands up his arms and around to the back of his neck so she could twist her fingers through his hair, anchoring him to her.

They stayed locked together for a long time - she wasn't sure of how long it was exactly, his proximity was frying her brain - but when he finally loosened his grip, he didn't remove his head from her shoulder. She didn't complain, rather liking the whole leaning-on-her-and-not-letting-go thing, but when her calves started cramping she did the first thing that came to mind to get him off her, releasing his hair and raising one hand so that she could smack him on the back of the head.

He swore, lifting his head from her shoulder to glare at her. Surprisingly though he didn't let go and make a large fuss like he usually did, so she hit him again, this time a well-placed punch to the shoulder. He growled in annoyance but didn't budge so she continued hitting him in the same place until he let her go and gave her that look that on any other day, would have meant that he was about to throw a tantrum.

But the most he did was send another one of those famous Kurosaki glares her way before turning and presenting his back to her, hands clenched at his sides. She stared at him stupidly for a few seconds (her brain refusing to register that fact that he had actually turned away from her) before she moved closer and curled her arms around his waist, resting her forehead on his back.

She could feel the muscles tighten underneath his clothing as he inhaled deeply, holding his breath for several seconds before finally releasing it, hands unclenching slightly in time with the movement and moving to cover her own.

They stayed like that for a while until his head dropped, gaze fixing firmly on the floor as he removed one hand from hers and reached into his obi, pulling out a small piece of paper and sliding it into her hand.

She pulled away, confused. "What's this?"

He shrugged, still facing away from her. "Just read it"

She shook her head slightly in annoyance but nevertheless unfolded the paper and scanned the document quickly, noting absently that it was well creased, obviously having been read several times already. Her eyes widened as she took in the gravity of the situation.

"Ichigo. I'm so sorry."

He turned to face her, gaze apprehensive. "You believe it then?"

God _damn_ this man was thick - hadn't she proven to him time and time again that she would always be behind him? - "Yes of course. I mean it's a little soon, but you wouldn't make something like this up. It was inevitable."

He looked away for the briefest of seconds before snapping his gaze back to her, face set in that carefully created mask that she had seen far too many times before. "You're the only one that thinks so. No one else is behind me."

Stepping closer, she let the paper fall forgotten to the floor as she scrutinised him carefully. "What do you mean?"

He shook his head, then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her again, the facade slipping just a bit as he buried his head back into that favourite shoulder. "I don't want to talk about it. Not yet anyway. I just thought you should know."

She sighed and stood back up on tiptoe to ease the pressure on his back, arms winding around him as he pressed his lips to her neck briefly before tightening his hold. "I take it you're staying tonight, then?"

"Please." His voice was filled with ten times more desperation than his kisses had held earlier, and she could _feel _the tension running through his body as he lifted his head to look at her, the need obvious in his eyes as well.

She raised one hand to trace the outline of his jaw - which wasn't easy considering he was pretty much crushing her to him - and drew him in for a kiss, hoping to comfort the young shinigami. Comfort however, was thrown out the window when he returned her kiss with far too much fervour, sending both of them stumbling backwards towards the wall, crashing against it rather ungracefully. She let out an indignant squeak and barely resisted the urge to smack him again as his hands slipped around her waist to undo - rip apart - her obi, throwing the fabric carelessly to the floor.

"Ichigo!"

He shook his head, hands moving to push the fabric covering her shoulder aside so that he could smother the bared skin with hot open mouthed kisses, leaving both of them gasping when he pulled away. "Please."

She sighed, anchoring her hands in his hair as his lips travelled lower, barely able to control the twisting in her gut as his tongue graced the top of her breast and her legs automatically wrapped themselves around his waist. "Of course. Just don't rip my clothes."

He glanced up at her for a second and she itched to slap away the arrogance that flashed across his face. It was quickly forgotten, however, when he lifted her away from the wall and over to the futon, lips still attached to her chest and hands gripping onto her thighs, trademark scowl on his face again. She stopped him before he got there though, unhooking her legs from his hips and letting herself slide to the floor, completely forgetting that her hands were still tangled in his hair. He let out a hoarse yell as he was yanked down to her level and she silenced him with an apologetic kiss, sliding her hands down his chest and under the band of his hakama.

He let out one of those rare groans that sent electric currents through her whole body and kissed her harder, talented tongue keeping her occupied while he expertly removed the rest of her shihakusho. His own clothing quickly joined hers on the floor when she finally registered the cool air against her skin, fumbling slightly in her haste to press her body against his.

He drew in a sharp breath as soon as they touched, holding it until she started to worry about his safety then let it out slowly, most of the tension in his muscles vanishing with the used air as if that skin to skin contact was all he needed. She knew that the problem hadn't disappeared, but judging by the way he was now taking it upon himself to explore her skin with lips, tongue and teeth, things were definitely looking up.

"Thanks, Rukia."

She smacked him, trying to ignore the fact that the movement of his lips against her neck was sending a tingling sensation through her entire body, "Don't be an idiot, Ichigo…"

He nipped her neck gently to stop any further comment then lowered them to the futon and proceeded to put his teeth to work along her shoulder as his hips began that beautifully timed rocking against her own. "Yeah I know, I still have to talk about things later. But for now can I just do this?"

Considering that her head was beginning to spin from the sensation caused by his hot breath washing across her skin and that tightening screw in her stomach, she wasn't about to disagree. Nor was she going to stop him from running a hand down her thigh, choosing instead to encourage him by wrapping both legs around his waist. "Promise we'll talk?"

He paused and smiled slightly, and although it wasn't as sincere and _perfect_ as one of those special ones he usually reserved only for her, it still took her breath away. "Promise."

Kurosaki Ichigo always kept his word.

He was also very persistent. That damn hand was moving along her body again, and she couldn't think. Hell, she didn't _want_ to think. Let alone talk. Talking required thinking. And when he moved inside her and they began those synchronised movements that had taken months to perfect, thought became little more than an annoyance.

She could think in the morning.

* * *

**_Well there you go, Cessation. Hope you enjoyed!_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Yes, you see right! This has turned into my first chapter fic for Bleach! Thanks so much to my reviewer's from the first chapter, and all those who favourited. **_

_**Many thanks to the great Namimakura (did I get that right chick? Too tired and stressed about duathlon to bother looking!) and Feilyn, who have both been a great help with this chapter and the one before, and again to those who reviewed!**_

_**I'm trying to update as soon as I can, which should hopefully be sometime next week! Hope you enjoy this chapter and continue to follow this fic!**_

_**Well here you go, the second chapter of Cessation; Read and Enjoy and Pwease Review? Pweaty Pwease?**_

* * *

By the time he woke, sunlight was streaming through the gaps in the small shutters above the futon and the warmth that had been curled against his side when he fell asleep was gone. He groaned, covering his eyes with one hand as he felt around for his hakama with the other, almost falling off the futon in the process.

Shit.

"You're not going anywhere."

Double shit. He hadn't even known she was in the room.

"You're so desperate to ravish me again that you stole my clothes? Kind of unnecessary after last night don't you think?" He managed to throw a cocky grin her way without moving too much and took great pleasure in the fact that he drew a frustrated growl out of her.

"Bastard."

"Don't call me a bastard, Rukia."

"Don't _be _a bastard, Ichigo."

"I'll stop if you stop being a bitch, how about that?"

"_I__'__m _the bitch? You're the one doing the whining."

"You stole my clothes!"

"_You_ promised to talk after sex. We had sex, you didn't talk."

"It's not my fault you couldn't keep your hands off me."

She swore, stepping forward and pushing him off the futon. "Don't flatter yourself Kurosaki."

He swore in turn, standing back up and pushing her down onto the futon, moving to pin her down before she even registered the change in position. "Shut up Rukia."

"Only if you'll talk." Somehow he knew she didn't mean normal banter.

"What do you think I've been doing Rukia, line dancing?"

She wrenched her arm free of his grasp with a snarl and punched him in the shoulder, "You're an asshole, Ichigo."

He shrugged. "It's been said before."

"Ichigo!"

He sighed and loosened his grip a bit, leaning down to kiss her gently. "Okay, I give."

She grinned triumphantly, but it quickly faded when he gave her his best Kurosaki glare. "What happened, Ichigo?" She asked quietly.

He shook his head and rolled them over so that she was leaning against his chest, seeking comfort from her hold as she wound her arms around his waist. "You saw the results."

"Yes, but that doesn't explain why you seem to think no one is behind you. We knew that your body would start to degenerate eventually. Surely that's understandable, considering the effects of the injuries that transferred to it from the war. I thought you were okay with that."

"I'm not okay about it. Do you think I _want _to leave everything behind Rukia? Life is just starting to get back to normal for me and so are my friends, did you ever consider that maybe that would be something I wouldn't want to give up? That maybe _I _would be something _they_ wouldn't want to give up?" He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "There are a lot of things I love and don't want to lose in the real world, Rukia."

She clenched her jaw and looked down, letting go of him and moving to perch on the side of the futon. "And I'm not one of them. No, don't say anything. It's okay, I understand."

He reached out and caught her wrist before she could rise, pulling her back to him and resting his head on her shoulder. "That's not what I meant Rukia. Fuck, you know what you mean to me. Stop being stupid." He lifted his head and grabbed her chin, turning her to face him. "I love you, dumb ass. But I love a lot of other people too."

"Even though they're making you a mess?" She ran a hand up his arm and removed his from her chin, linking their fingers together and pressing a kiss to the back of his hand.

He nodded, eyes serious. "Of course. I can't stop loving my own family Rukia."

She glanced at him, worried. "It's your family? I didn't pick Yuzu as one to not be behind her brother. Karin a little maybe, but not Yuzu."

"It's natural. The war was hard on them, on all of us. I didn't know that it would happen so soon, and hiding it from them probably hasn't helped. I think it's just because they don't want to lose someone else. It doesn't make things any easier on me, though." He tightened his hold on her hand a little, removing his other one from her waist and running it through his hair again. "I'm hoping that they're just in denial and it's not something else."

She grabbed that hand as well, before it started pulling out hair. "Just give them time, Ichigo. They've been through a lot."

He nodded slightly. "Yeah I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it though."

She sighed and kissed him, leaning her forehead against his. "It'll be okay. I promise."

Kuchiki Rukia always kept her word.

**XXX**

"Shit!"

"Karin-chan!"

The elder Kurosaki twin turned defiantly away from the wall she had just punched, eyes blazing. "Shit!"

Yuzu visibly flinched and Karin sighed, forgetting about the blood oozing from her knuckles as she wrapped an awkward arm around her sister. "I'm sorry, Yuzu."

"It's okay Karin-chan." Yuzu moved away from the door and grabbed Karin's wrist, looking over the split skin along her knuckles carefully. "This needs a bandage."

"It's fine. _Everything's _fine."

"No, it's not." Yuzu dropped Karin's hand and looked down at the floor. "Nothing's fine anymore."

"Yuzu."

"I don't want him to die Karin!" She lifted her head and faced her sister, tears threatening to fall. "I don't want anyone to die anymore!"

Karin wasted no time in wrapping her arms around her again, though still holding her somewhat hesitantly. "It'll be okay Yuzu, trust me."

The only reply she got was the sound of her younger sister sobbing openly on her shoulder. "He promised Karin-chan. He promised no one would die anymore. Why did he promise if he couldn't keep it?!"

Karin sighed, pulling her sister closer and resting a hand on her hair, just like their brother used to do. "I don't know Yuzu. I wish I did. But it'll be okay, all right?" She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince.

Yuzu nodded, lifting her head from Karin's shoulder and wiping her face on her sleeve. "Okay."

Karin gave her a small grin, pulling away and resting a hand on her shoulder. "How about you go start dinner okay? I'll be right down."

Yuzu nodded again, giving a small smile and heading towards the door. "Mm-hmm!"

As soon as she had closed the door Karin turned and faced the bed, where her brother's empty body lay. The smile faded, and she drove a fist into the wall again.

"Bastard!"

**XXX**

This time, Rukia was the last to wake. Shaking her head slightly to try and clear it she leant over the side of the futon, looking for her hakama.

"Shit! Ichigo, you bastard!"

"Payback, Rukia!"

"Give me back my clothes asshole!"

He stepped out of the small adjoining bathroom, towel slung around his shoulders, otherwise naked. "What was that?"

"Oh god, put some clothes on! And give me back mine before I kick your ass!"

He grinned and she delighted briefly in the fact that he was acting much more like his usual self, and that he still wasn't wearing any clothing, before remembering that she was about to rend him limb from limb. "Ichigo!"

"Okay, okay, I give! Jesus, woman." He reached back inside the bathroom and pulled out his hakama, - she really needed a better hiding place - stepping into it quickly and dropping the towel on the floor.

"You forgetting something?" She gave him her best Kuchiki glare and swore as it was quickly obscured by black fabric. Pulling it off she gestured rudely at him with her free hand. "I didn't mean _throw _them at me!"

He shrugged, moving across the room to sit beside her on the futon and watching with far too much interest as she struggled to slip her hakama on. "You got sent a message by the way."

She glanced towards the ceiling, expecting to see a butterfly. "Where?"

He reached across to the small table beside the futon and passed her a piece of paper. "It came about half an hour ago. When your lazy ass was still asleep."

She smacked him lightly on the shoulder and unfolded the note. "Shit!"

He looked at her worriedly. "What?"

"It's an official summons. And it's not for me, it's for you."

"What for? What would they want from me?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. But you better go, it's official, not to mention extremely rude not to."

He sighed, getting up and grabbing the rest of his uniform from the bathroom. "Guess I better. You coming?"

"Fuku-taich­ou duty. Where are the rest of my clothes?"

"Up there." He pointed to the bathroom door, where a mass of black and white cloth was slung over the top.

"Asshole."

She absolutely refused to go over there and try to reach them. There was no way in hell he was watching her, small frame or not, _bounce._

"Get them down Ichigo. _**Now**_, before I castrate you."

He laughed and reached up with ease, yanking the fabric down and throwing it in her direction. "No need to get angry, Rukia."

She threw another rude hand gesture over her shoulder at him after tying her obi, sliding Sode no Shirayuki into place and heading out the door. "Just hurry up!"

He shook his head at her, and followed.

**XXX**

"We have been waiting for you, Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki fuku-taichou."

Ichigo turned and regarded the soutaichou coolly as Rukia stepped past him to join the ranks of taichou's and fuku-taichous, who were accompanied by several of the younger seated officers. "I wasn't aware that the summons was for me originally, Yama-jii."

The older man nodded slightly in acknowledgement and leant on his cane, scrutinising Ichigo carefully. "It has come to our attention that you are having some difficulty with your human body Kurosaki. Is this true?"

Ichigo scowled. "Yes."

"Are you going to die?"

Ichigo looked across at Rukia, who met his gaze calmly. He sighed and looked down at the floor, clenching his fists. "Yes."

All heads turned to face him and several of the younger officers broke out in shocked whispers. Ichigo quickly glared them into silence, helped by the commanding thump of Yamamoto's cane on the floor.

"Silence!" He readjusted his grip on the cane and refocussed his attention on Ichigo. "Kurosaki Ichigo. Will you therefore take the position as Fifth Division taichou of the Gotei 13?"

* * *

_**Well, there it is, Chapter Two of Cessation, hope you enjoy!**_

_**Stef.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Wow, third chapter already. Epic. Huge thanks to Feilyn for scouring this to within an inch of _her _life, (sound familiar chick?) and for helping me through this chapter, which was rather draining. Big thanks to all those who reviewed last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one! _**

* * *

They were all still awake when he finally arrived back at the house to collect his body, the twins studying in the kitchen and his father sitting in his office. Not really in the mood to confront either one of the twins at that moment, he managed to suppress his reiatsu long enough to pass by them without them noticing. Instead he sought out Isshin, barging into the office without so much as a knock or welcome.

"They offered me a position, Dad. As _taichou._"

"Bastard!" Both men turned in shock as Karin burst through the half open door, neither of them having even noticed her approach. "You fucking bastard! How dare you? Just because you're some damn war _hero _you think you can fuck with people's lives with no regard for their feelings just to get what you want? You're a fucking self centred asshole, you know that?"

"Enough, Karin!"

Ichigo slammed a fist onto the desk, the unexpected action sending Karin stumbling back a pace or two in surprise. Ichigo had _never _raised his voice in anger to her before. "That's enough, Karin." He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair in desperation. "Please."

She glared at him and then at Isshin, who met her gaze calmly. "Why should I stop? And you're just as bad, you're not even _trying _to stop him from doing this to us!"

"Shut _up_, Karin!" Ichigo slumped against the desk and ran his hand through his hair again, gripping the messy strands tightly and closing his eyes with a loud sigh. "We need to talk, don't we?"

"No fucking shit."

Ichigo tightened his grip in his hair, and Isshin found himself trying to remember the last time he had seen his son look so utterly defeated. "Go and get your body, Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded and pushed himself away from the desk, stepping carefully around Karin and leaving the room. She swore under her breath at him as he moved past and aimed a kick at the closing door.

Isshin sighed and got out of his chair, resting a hand on her shoulder and reaching past her with the other to reopen the door. "Come on Karin, we'll talk somewhere else."

She nodded mutely, and followed him down the hall.

**XXX**

"Kuchiki-fukutaichou?"

Rukia glanced up from the stack of paperwork she was forging Ukitake-taichou's signature on and waved the messenger in. "What is it?"

"A message, Kuchiki-fukutaichou."

"I gathered that, you idiot. Who is it from?"

He gulped, and passed her a piece of paper. "The Kuchiki Clan, Kuchiki-fukutaichou. Requesting an immediate meeting."

Well that explained his ignorance. For some reason the Kuchiki Clan's messengers were all half wits. She was surprised they hadn't hired Ichigo.

"They're always requesting an immediate meeting. They can wait for once, I'm busy here. Pass that on, will you?"

He nodded and turned to leave, tripping over his own feet in the process. She shook her head at him and sighed, restacking some of the papers she had already signed. She knew the message wouldn't be delivered.

**XXX**

"You're a fucking bastard. You should have told us you were leaving before!" Karin slammed her glass down onto the table, sending water sloshing over the sides and across her books, ignoring the small squeak emitting from her sister sitting in the opposite chair.

"When, Karin?" Ichigo stopped pacing and turned to face her, clenching a fist at his side and shrugging off the hand that Isshin placed on his shoulder as he stepped closer. "When we were in the middle of fighting a war? When you were still acting as if you were on the frontlines, prepared to kill at the slightest noise? When Yuzu was dying in hospital and you couldn't forgive yourself for letting her help? When, Karin? I didn't have a chance!" He stopped, and took several deep breaths to calm himself. "Then Yuzu finally woke up, and you were both so happy_._ I _felt _okay, we were all sure I _was_ okay so things went back to as normal as we could get them. I didn't want to spoil it by making you worry about something that might not even happen. I was protecting you!"

"Maybe I don't want to be protected! I'm sixteen now Ichigo, _sixteen._ I'm not some kid you can just completely disregard because you'd rather bang your dead girlfriend then live with your family!"

"What the fuck? That doesn't even make sense!"

"Oh come off it, Ichigo! We all know that you're only saying that you're gonna die because you can't bear the thought of not being able to fuck Rukia whenever you please. It's so blatantly obvious, the way you practically salivate whenever she steps into the room."

"What? Where the fuck did you get that idea from, Karin? I wouldn't do that to you, and you damn well know it. I love Rukia, sure, but that doesn't mean I would give up my family when I know that she'll wait for me no matter what." He moved around the table and stood in front of her, crossing his arms over his chest. "I may be a selfish bastard at times Karin, but I would _never_ do that to you. To you, or to Yuzu or even to our idiot father. God, why won't you believe me?"

"Believe you? Why should I believe you, when you've lied to us so many times before? When you've _betrayed_ us before!"

"How the fuck did I betray you, Karin? By keeping you from knowing about me being a shinigami so that I could protect you? By fighting in the war and almost dying to stop Aizen from killing you both? Tell me when, Karin. Everything that I have done, has been for the good of you and Yuzu, and you damn well know it. So don't give me that bullshit!"

"Just stop it! Please!"

Both Karin and Ichigo turned to face Yuzu, who was trembling in her chair. "Please, stop fighting." She let out a small sob, and buried her face in her hands. "Please."

Ichigo sighed and moved around the table so he could wrap his arms around her shoulders and pull her against him. "I'm sorry, Yuzu." He glanced across at Karin, who had risen from her seat and was heading out of the door. "Why can't you believe me, Karin? I love you. Isn't that enough?"

She turned and regarded him coldly. "If you did love us, Ichigo, you wouldn't leave."

**XXX**

"Enter."

Rukia slowly opened the door to the Kuchiki meeting hall and stepped inside, noting with some discomfort that the hall was full, all of the Elders and the New Charter in attendance. This obviously wasn't a trivial matter.

"You are late, Kuchiki Rukia."

She bowed, fighting to keep the traditional blank look on her face as she faced Kuchiki Takahiro, the clans eldest male. "I was working at my division. Forgive me for the delay in proceedings."

All she got in response was the slight twitch of the left eyebrow, and the half turning of his body to face the New Charter. "What was it that you wished to discuss with Kuchiki Rukia?"

The head of the New Charter, Kuchiki Hideyoshi rose to his feet and faced them, a flicker of a smirk passing across his face. "We feel that something is compromising the remaining honour of the Kuchiki family. Tell us, Kuchiki Rukia, what is the relationship between yourself and the human boy, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

She stopped herself from choking just in time. "What do you mean?"

"Are you his friend? His comrade? Or his lover? Surely by now you would understand what a relationship is, Kuchiki Rukia." Hideyoshi stepped out into the aisle and made his way down to her. "Or dare I say it, are you all three?"

Rukia straightened and met his gaze defiantly. "What is my personal life to the clan, Hideyoshi?

"The clan relies on it's members to uphold it's reputation. By associating yourself with this boy, you are degrading the whole clan." He smirked and watched as her face twisted in surprise, then delivered the final blow. "The thing is, Kuchiki Rukia, it must end."

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**Well, there it is. Chapter three. Oodles of Angst. Still can't believe that I'm doing so well with these updates, and hoping like hell that it continues. Hope you enjoyed, and really, really hope that you might possibly think of reviewing. Pretty please?**


	4. Chapter 4

_Wow! Chapter Four already! Why didn't Standing get written this quickly? It must be because of my fantastic reviewers! Especially Goku'sgirl, who went and reviewed every single chapter despite coming in around chapter three! Thanks love! Feilyn and Namimakura go without saying. Inazagi not only reviewed this, but my other ones. Much love peeps. The rest of you rock too!_

_This chapter was hard to write. But if it weren't for Feilyn pulling the equivelant of about three Stef's (sorry to bring an inside joke into this, but it is necessary because of the sheer awsomeness of her work on this) this chapter might not have been written for another week._

_Right, enough said, Its too early for me to think about this anymore. Time to get down to the business end of the chapter. Hope you enjoy! _

* * *

"You want me to what?"

"It's simple, Rukia-san. You end this foolishness with the boy, and the clan's honour will be restored. Surely that is not too much to ask." Kuchiki Hideyoshi raised a hand and circled it slowly. "The entire New Charter is in agreement, as well as the Elders Council."

"What about Byakuya? Is he in agreement? I don't see him here."

"He is in full agreement. The decision has been made. You must end your relationship with the boy."

"He's not just some _thing _that I can toss away like garbage!"

"You can, and you will. End of discussion." Hideyoshi walked past her and opened the door, motioning for her to leave. "You are no longer required here, Kuchiki Rukia. Thank you for your time."

"Don't you _dare _dismiss me. My opinion counts for as much as everyone else's in here, and I intend to fight this. It is unacceptable that a decision like this is made by the clan without my presence, or my brother's. I want an explanation, _now_." She reached past him and grabbed the door handle, slamming it shut to emphasise her point. "I'm not leaving until you can give me a good reason as to why I should have to commit an act based on a New Charter suggestion."

"The New Charter may have suggested this action, but everyone bar you is in agreement. Seeing as you are the subject of the vote, your opinion is not to be considered. Surely you know the laws of the clan."

Rukia clenched a fist and stepped forward. "That law is ancient. Over the last few years it hasn't even been looked at, let alone used in a vote. What happened to each member of the clan having equal rights?"

"The day that you and your brother stop lording it over us, will be the day where we all have equal rights. Don't be so stupid, Kuchiki Rukia. There can't be equal rights if there is someone who has more power."

"That's bullshit, and you know it. We don't _lord _it over you. I should be given the chance to voice my opinion on this!" She turned and faced the rest of the clan. "I _demand _the chance to voice my opinion!"

"Your opinion is rejected Rukia-san, regardless of your power. You will stop interacting with the boy, and you will do it straight away. Consider yourself disowned if you do not."

"I'd rather be disowned than have to leave him! You can't make me do this!"

"So you are willing to betray your own family? Your own brother? For the sake of a relationship that may not even make it a year? You have a duty to uphold our honour, Kuchiki Rukia, and we expect you to do so. Without us, you would be nothing. You owe this family. Am I understood?"

She sighed, looking down at the ground. "Yes."

"Then end it."

"Yes."

**XXX**

"Ichi-nii?"

Ichigo looked up from the small bag he was filling with clothes and smiled slightly at his youngest sister who was standing in the doorway, twisting her hands together nervously. "You okay, Yuzu?"

"Is what Karin said true? Are you just leaving to be with Rukia?" Yuzu looked down at the floor and scraped the carpet with one toe. "I need to know the truth, Ichi-nii."

"Come here." He held out his arms and grunted when she ran into them, sending him stumbling back against his desk. "I wouldn't lie to you, Yuzu."

"Karin thinks you would."

He sighed and reached into his back pocket for that over read piece of paper, taking one of her hands in his and sliding it into her palm. "Karin isn't always right, Yuzu."

Yuzu looked down at the paper. "What's this, Ichi-nii?"

He looked at the floor. "I think you should read it. It's … it's the results from my last tests."

She pulled away for a few seconds to scan the paper, eyes brimming with more tears the further she advanced down the page. "Ichi-nii." She let out a sob and buried her head in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I don't want you to leave, Ichi-nii."

He felt his heart breaking. "I wish I could stay Yuzu. But a legal gigai only lasts so long and once you're dead you age real slowly. It wouldn't be right, looking twenty-one when I'm forty." He let go with one hand and pulled her chin up so he could look at her properly. "Besides, Rukia would be too busy keeping all the ladies off me."

Yuzu gave a watery smile at his effort to brighten the mood a bit and twisted out of his grip on her chin to rest her head on his chest again. "I think she would hit you, Ichi-nii."

"Probably." He ran his free hand through her hair and pulled her closer. "It'll be all right, Yuzu. I'll be able to visit you here, just not as often as when I was alive. And knowing Urahara, in an impossibly expensive, legal yet shoddy gigai, okay? I promise."

**XXX**

"Isshin."

"Kisuke."

"And I'm Yoruichi. Now, are we done with introductions?"

Urahara let go of his sake bottle and yanked on Yoruichi's tail, then recoiled as she launched herself at his face, raking her claws down his cheeks.

"Pig."

"Cow."

"Asshole."

"Mutt."

She sniffed disdainfully, dropping to the ground. "I am not a dog Kisuke, nor a cow. You need to stay off the sake."

"She has a point, Kisuke." Isshin reached out and grabbed the sake bottle, shaking it experimentally. "Here, let me look after that for you."

He ducked as Urahara swung Benihime at him. "Give me back my sake, Kurosaki."

Isshin uncorked the bottle, took a swig and ducked again. "I need to ask you something first."

"You can ask me while I'm drinking. Give me my sake."

Benihime flew through the air again, this time not attached to Urahara's hand.

"Kisuke! You almost hit me!"

"I don't care. I want my sake."

"No. Answer his question first."

"Shut-up, Yoruichi. Isshin, my sake, now. Before I come and get it."

"Your threats mean nothing Kisuke. You don't have Benihime anymore. You are not getting the sake from Isshin."

"Watch me."

Urahara tried to stand, and fell.

"I agree with the lady, Kisuke. You can have the sake when I get a straight answer from you. Which isn't going to happen if you keep drinking."

"The man has a point." Yoruichi rested a paw on Urahara's thigh. "Are you going to answer his question, Kisuke?"

"Depends on the question." She dug her claws in and he yelped. "Okay! I'll answer it!"

"Good." Isshin took another swig of sake and leant forward. "Kisuke, I need to know how long."

"How long what?"

"Be serious, Kisuke." This time, the claws went a bit deeper. "Go on, Isshin."

Isshin took a deep breath. "How long does my son have before he dies?"

**XXX**

"Hey."

She jerked awake as he slid under the sheets, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist. Twisting out of his hold she put space between them, pulling herself across the futon in a desperate attempt to stop him from making her change her mind.

"What are you doing here, Ichigo?"

Her voice was colder than it had been when she was practicing. Albeit it was a different sentence, but she could feel him tense behind her all the same.

"I needed to see you. Things…didn't go so well. Karin thinks I'm making everything up to be with you. Yuzu is okay about it, I guess."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be here."

"I want to be here."

_It must end._

"Ichigo." She couldn't face him. "I think we should finish this."

"Eh?" He reached out and rested a hand on her waist, wincing as she flinched away. He ignored it and flipped her over so that she was lying on her back beside him. "What the fuck do you mean by that, Rukia?"

"I want to end this. End… end us."

He stared at her. "What the hell, Rukia? I..." He ran a hand through his hair, a habit she'd noticed he'd picked up recently. "What the _hell_?"

She avoided his gaze. "It's the best thing to do."

"Bullshit! I _need _you, Rukia." He reached across and grabbed her chin, moving her to face him and pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "I need you."

"It's over, Ichigo. Go back to your family." She reached up and pushed his hand away. "I don't need you."

* * *

_I have never written Urahara or Yoruichi before. It was fun. Hope you thought so too. Please (down on knee begging.) take the time to leave a review?_


	5. Chapter 5

_You have no idea how epic this chapter has been. On top of fixing the typo's on fifty stories in a day, I also wrote half of this, and finished the rest in two nights. Thanks to **Feilyn** for the wonderful typo-fixing job that she's roped me into (I love it really), I get an IchiRuki chapter fic out of her! When I do not know, but at some point it may happen. **Namimakura** gets a shout out too for her support!_

_Thanks to **Kyoshi Slickfish** who did the same thing as **Gokusgirl (who freaked when she read her name last time - bless her soul) **and reviewed all my chapters - you have no idea how grateful I am for that! Remind me you two to review some of your stories okay? Well, I need to read them first, and I will do so when my assessments are over for the term._

_Thanks to all those other reviewers who are following this, again with the you have no idea how glad I am that you are reviewing. Much love._

_Right, onto the juicy stuff. Here's Cess Chapter Five!_

_Take care,_

_Stef_

* * *

"Why?" He ran a hand through his hair again and gripped the ends tightly, sighing heavily. "Just…_why_, Rukia?"

She didn't answer him. She couldn't. So she rolled out of bed and began to dress, trying to avoid the inevitable confrontation for as long as possible.

He followed her, pulling on his hakama. "Is it the clan?"

She paled. _Shit. _

"It is, isn't it? Jesus, Rukia, you're doing this because of the _clan?_" His voice cracked at the end of the sentence and he cursed himself for allowing the hurt that had been bubbling inside to break free. "You're leaving me because of _them?_"

"It's not as easy as that, Ichigo."

"Like hell it is! They've got you wrapped around their little finger, Rukia. When did you start being such a pushover?"

She turned and slapped him. "I'm not being a pushover! It's complicated, all right?"

He ignored the stinging in his cheek and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Do you want me? Do you want this?"

She tore her gaze away and looked at the floor. "Yes."

"Then why won't you fight? Why won't you stand up for us?"

"Don't you think I've tried?

"Obviously not hard enough, considering you're still trying to leave me."

She reeled back as if he had slapped her in return. "Don't you fucking _dare_ say that I didn't try. You try going against your whole family when you're on your own!"

"You don't need to be alone, Rukia. Let me help."

"It's not going to do anything, Ichigo. Do you think I would be doing this to you if your opinion mattered to them?"

"Why wouldn't it? If I take the position as taichou, I'm just as good, if not better than them."

"No, your not! Not to them! You're not a noble, heck, you're still alive! And to make it worse you're a …." She trailed off, not wanting to hurt him any more than she already had.

"I'm what, Rukia? A vaizard?"

"Yes."

"Why the fuck does that matter, Rukia? The fact that I'm a vaizard is what saved their sorry asses during the war."

"It does matter, Ichigo! To them you're a freak, something that shouldn't even exist! What you did in the war means nothing to them!"

"And obviously, you feel the same. Thanks a lot, Rukia."

"That's not what I _meant_, Ichigo. Jeez…you _know_ I'd never think of you that way. It's just….you can't win against the Kuchiki Clan, okay? Not when they all have their minds set on something."

"So you're willing to give up? Let them walk all over you?" He shook his head and turned away. "You're being weak, Rukia."

"I'm doing what's best for us, Ichigo."

He laughed, a horrible strangled sound that held traces of his hollow's own laugh. "Finishing this? You've got a really screwed up idea of what's best for us."

She sighed and reached out to touch him, wincing as he moved away. "I have to do this, Ichigo. There's no other option. Please…don't make this any harder than it already is."

"You're the one making it hard, Rukia. If us being together meant anything to you, you would be in that meeting hall, _fighting_. Not standing here telling me you want to end it. Let me _help_."

"I tried, Ichigo! I failed! And you'll do the same! This isn't something you can just swing your zanpakutou at and fix!"

"Don't you think I know that? Try again. _Fight_, Rukia."

She swallowed back the tears threatening to make an entrance and turned her back on him. "I can't, Ichigo. It's not going to make any difference. It has to end."

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes it does, Ichigo. Why can't you see that? Please, just let it go."

"Don't do this, Rukia." His voice was hoarse, filled with desperation and anger.

"Leave, Ichigo. Just…. go. It's over."

She stepped away from the hand she knew he was going to place on her shoulder and straightened her back, willing herself not to turn and collapse in his arms.

"Fine." That hand found her shoulder anyway, and he turned her around and placed a bittersweet kiss on her lips. _A_ _goodbye. _"If you don't want to fight for us, Rukia, then I suppose I'm not going to be able to change your mind. I'll leave."

She nodded dumbly, too intoxicated by the sheer emotion that had poured out of him into her in that brief contact to be able to _do_ anything.

"Rukia." The hand fell off her shoulder as he turned and headed for the door, throwing Zangetsu onto his back with ease and leaning slightly on the doorframe as his other hand ran through his hair. "I won't come back if you let me leave now. You know that, right?"

_Betrayal. _

"Yes."

He nodded to show that he had heard her whisper and stepped over the threshold. "Good."

**XXX**

"Karin-chan?"

"What?" It came out harsher than she had expected.

_Shit. _

"Sorry, Yuzu." Karin rolled over and smiled apologetically at her younger sister, feeling a strong sense of deja-vu. "I seem to be apologising to you a lot these days, don't I?"

Yuzu smiled and moved to sit next to her sister on the small bed. "It's okay, Karin-chan."

_No it isn't. _

"Che. What's up Yuzu?"

Yuzu looked down at the blankets and twisted her fingers into the material. "I think you're being too harsh on Ichi-nii."

Karin snorted. "Whatever, Yuzu."

"It's true, Karin! You haven't even given him a chance to explain!"

Karin reeled backwards. Yuzu _never _called her Karin. Always Karin-chan.

"He's leaving us, Yuzu. Does he _deserve _a chance?"

"Of course he does! Everyone deserves a chance, Karin-chan."

"I recall you've had plenty, Karin."

Both girls turned at the new voice, Yuzu jumping to her feet and rushing across to wrap her arms around her brother. "Ichi-nii!"

"Hey, Yuzu." He placed his hand on her hair and leant onto the doorframe with the opposing shoulder, sighing tiredly as Yuzu stepped away and letting his hand hang freely. "You forget just how many chances you've had sometimes, Karin."

"You've had more."

"Does it matter, Karin?" He ran his free hand through his hair and started as several strands clung to his palm. "Shit."

Karin ignored his strife and rolled over, presenting her back to him. "Of course it matters. You're killing yourself and leaving us so you can get some."

He laughed bitterly and pulled the results from his back pocket again and tossed the folded slip of paper her way. "Think what you like, Karin."

"What's this?"

"I didn't think I'd need to actually _prove _it to you, but that's my results. It's up to you what you do with them."

He heaved himself off the door frame and turned back down the hall, leaving Karin staring after him as she twisted the paper through her hands.

**XXX**

"Ichi-nii?"

"Eh?" Ichigo didn't move from his position against the wall.

"Why are you back so early? What's wrong, Ichi-nii?"

"It's nothing, Yuzu."

"Don't lie to me Ichi-nii, please."

He sighed and flipped around so that his back was resting against the wall, before sliding down it's length to sit heavily on the floor. "Sorry."

Yuzu joined him on the floor. "It's okay, Ichi-nii."

"Thanks, Yuzu." He smiled at her briefly.

"What's wrong, Ichi-nii? Please tell me." Yuzu turned to face him, gazing at him in concern.

He didn't answer, choosing instead to close his eyes and tilt his head back to rest against the wall.

"Did you have a fight with Rukia-nee?"

That bitter laugh made an appearance again. "Yeah."

"It'll be okay, Ichi-nii. You'll sort it out. You always do."

Ichigo shook his head and buried it in his hands, gripping his hair tightly. "Not this time, Yuzu."

"What do you mean?"

"She chose the clan over me."

"What? Ichi-nii…"

He shuddered and gripped his hair tighter. "She left me, Yuzu. It's over."

* * *

_It's finished! Finally. Can't believe that I am up to Chapter **Five**. Epic. No update this week, I have several NCEA Assignments due (and to start) but maybe next week. Thanks for reading (and if you do, reviewing!)_


	6. Chapter 6

_Wow. The sixth chapter. Can't believe it. **Paper Bullet, musicallady1 **and** gokusgirl **left awesome detailed reviews (**Namimakura **and** Feilyn** don't count cos I talk to them anyway**) **and the rest of you were unbelieveable, as always. Can you tell I'm excited to have you guys?_

_OMG, **Feilyn **(Who btw left the worst review ever - who the hell says awesomesauce anymore/or at all) found a typo. I think I'm out of a job. I'm meant to be her typo-fixer._

_Anyway, I've hereby decided to shut up now, because I'm tired and this AN is probably bad enough as it is without me adding anymore crap to it so I think I shall take my leave and get onto Chapter SIX!! YES! YOU HEARD CORRECTLY, CHAPTER SIX!!_

_Cough._

* * *

"Ichigo?"

Ichigo flinched, pushing himself away from the counter and automatically bracing himself to stop the customary welcoming kick.

It didn't come.

He blinked in confusion and eyed his father warily. "What?"

Isshin stepped closer, stealing a piece of chicken off Yuzu's plate as he passed and Ichigo tensed, waiting for the punch.

It didn't come. What the fuck?

"Why did you cancel your gate tomorrow? Aren't you going back to Seireitei?"

Ichigo glanced at Yuzu, who met his gaze worriedly. "No."

"Why not? I would have thought you wanted to see…" He coughed and smirked. "…Rukia again before your classes started."

"No."

Isshin moved closer again and looked Ichigo up and down, scrutinising him carefully. "Did something happen, Ichigo?"

"No. Have you been drinking?"

"Maybe." Isshin waved it off and turned to face his youngest daughter. "Articulate today isn't he, Yuzu?"

"Shut up old man. Do you even know what the hell articulate means?"

"Ichi-nii!"

"Sorry, Yuzu. It's not my fault he's an idiot."

"He has a point, Yuzu." Isshin grinned stupidly for a second before registering the insult. "Hey!"

Ichigo sighed and pushed past. "I'm going."

"No you're not." Isshin grabbed his arm and yanked him back to face him. "You haven't given me a proper answer yet."

Ichigo roughly shook him away. "It's none of your business."

"Is it Rukia?"

Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. More strands of orange clung to his fingers. "It's nothing, Dad. Just leave it, okay?"

"It's not nothing, Ichi-nii!" Yuzu got up from her seat and moved to his side. "Tell him."

"It is Rukia, isn't it?" When Ichigo didn't answer Isshin moved forward and waved a hand in front of his face. "Ichigo?"

"Yeah."

"What happened?" This time Isshin had to move his hand a bit closer. "Ichigo."

He shook his head. "She left me."

Isshin burst out laughing and Ichigo waited for it to die down before speaking. "I was being serious, Dad."

Isshin blinked. "She _left_ you?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" Isshin looked genuinely perplexed. "I thought things were going good for you?"

Ichigo laughed bitterly. "Obviously not good enough." He sighed and crossed his arms. "She left because of the clan."

"What does the clan have to do with anything? Her brother's the leader!"

Ichigo shrugged. "They're more important to her, I guess."

"Are you sure that's the real reason, Ichigo?"

"Does it matter what the real reason is? She left me. That's all there is to it."

"I think you're wrong. This is Rukia we are talking about."

"Yeah. Stubborn as a mule and won't ever go back on her word." Ichigo sighed and moved away. "I'm tired, Dad. I'm gonna head back to the flat now, okay?"

He turned and left the room before Yuzu or Isshin could respond.

**XXX**

"Good morning, Kuchiki-fukutaichou!"

Kotetsu Kiyone scrambled to find her crutches and stand on her one good leg, pushing Kotsubari Sentaro's steadying hand away impatiently and bending forward as far as her crutches would allow in a half bow.

Rukia returned the gesture half-heartedly and sighed as she rested Sode no Shirayuki against the edge of her desk. "Kotetsu-san, Kotsubari-san."

The two friends (although they would never admit it) frowned and Kiyone nudged Sentaro with a crutch, eyeing Rukia worriedly. "Are you okay, Kuchiki-fukutaichou?"

Rukia nodded wearily, sinking into her seat. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Kiyone glanced at Sentaro and swung forward. "It's just…you haven't called us by our family names since the war, Kuchiki-fukutaichou. And you look…"

"Tired." Sentaro finished.

Kiyone nodded furiously. "Yes, tired."

"I'm fine." Rukia dragged a small smile out of somewhere to try and provide a bit of proof, but she knew it looked strained. She never had been a good liar.

"Do you want me to get Isane, Kuchiki-fukutaichou? I'm sure it wouldn't take long, even with this leg."

"I'll go." Sentaro offered immediately. "Sit down, Kiyone."

"No, I'll go. I'm perfectly capable of getting to Fourth from here, Sentaro."

"No. I'll go. Sit down."

"Both of you sit down. I'm fine." Rukia ran a frustrated hand through her hair - since when had she picked up _that _habit? - and used the same hand to point at their respective chairs. "Now."

"Are you sure?" Kiyone stood her ground. "It's no…"

"I'm fine!"

Kiyone almost fell over as she swung backwards and her crutches caught on Sentaro's foot. "I don't think you are, Kuchiki-fukutaichou. But if you need anything, tell me."

"Or me."

"Shut up, Sentaro. I offered first."

"I won't need anything. I am perfectly capable of looking after myself, thank-you." Rukia sighed and picked up her brush. "I need to get these papers done, okay?"

The two friends nodded and retreated to their desks, still eyeing her suspiciously and speaking in conspiratorial whispers.

"Shut up!"

"Rukia-san."

She jumped - well she would have if she'd had the energy. "Ukitake-taichou."

"A word, please." He crossed the room and opened the door leading to the training grounds. "Let's talk outside."

She nodded and followed.

**XXX**

Yoruichi sighed and pulled the bottle of sake away from Urahara, ignoring his mumbled cursing. "Get up, Kisuke."

"No."

"Kisuke. Move your arse, now." A foot prodded his head.

"Go away." He opened one eye and glared at her. "And give me back my sake."

"You're not getting any more sake for a long time, Kisuke. You can't hide your issues behind alcohol."

"I don't have issues." Kisuke looked confused. "Do I?"

For one of the smartest men to ever come out of Seireitei, Urahara Kisuke was incredibly thick. "Yes you do. You lied to your best friend, Kisuke!"

He didn't reply and yelped as Yoruichi prodded a bit harder. "What?"

"You lied to Isshin, Kisuke. About Ichigo."

"So what?" He struggled into a sitting position and leant groggily against the couch. "I only left out a few minor details."

"Minor?" The sake bottle dropped to the floor. "You told him that there wouldn't be any trouble with the hollow, Kisuke! We both know as soon as Ichigo loses his body the transition is going to leave a huge opening for it to take control!"

Urahara looked at her solemnly. "Do you really think that Ichigo will have a problem? He's surpassed our expectations before."

"That's not the point, Kisuke! Ichigo's strong, but that doesn't mean that the shock of the transition won't leave him vulnerable. Isshin needs to know so that he can help him if it happens and we're not there."

"He won't need help."

"Yes he will, Kisuke. Do you remember what happened last time? Half of Hueco Mundo was nearly destroyed. Even Hacchi couldn't hold him with that barrier of his and he had his hollow helping!"

"That was a one off. It's unlikely to happen again, especially now that Ichigo and his hollow work together."

"Kisuke, you can't change the way a hollow operates. No matter what they keep coming back for more until you can get rid of them. It's what they do - they all want power. Ichigo's is no different. He may be submissive now, but as soon as he sees an opening he will take it. Something needs to be done to help him."

Yoruichi crouched so that she was at eye level and met his gaze. "You need to tell Isshin, Kisuke. You need to warn him _and_ Ichigo. Isshin shouldn't have to sit back and watch his son turn into something he has to kill because they weren't prepared."

Kisuke looked away and she sighed, getting to her feet and beginning to collect the rest of the sake bottles. "Please, just tell them Kisuke. They need to know."

* * *

_All over for this chapter. Yay! Well not so much because I actually really enjoyed writing this, despite my copious complaining. (Why is it I can use big words when I'm tired?) Anyway, time for me to leave, hope you enjoyed Cess 6! :Wonders if you could possibly leave a review: :Takes a leaf out of Feilyn's book and wibbles:_


	7. Chapter 7

_I bring you this chapter from snowy Ashburton! It is finally snowing properly! And settling! My car has never looked so white. Seriously._

_I spent hours trying to finish the last bit of this chapter. Seriously. So shameful._

_Thanks to all my great reviewers (no time for names cos it's snowing and I need to do stuff) and those who read my new stuff as well, thanks so much for the support! Hope you enjoy this!_

_The lovely **Feilyn** (who I think is secretly jealous of my snow) who is the author of the incredible **Truth or Dare** has been a massive help again, so big thanks to her!_

_Right here we go - Cessation Seven._

* * *

Rukia followed Ukitake past the training grounds - strangely empty today - and along the gravel path leading away from Thirteenth, eyes fixed on the ground and fingers brushing against Sode no Shirayuki's hilt,

"Ukitake-taichou? Where are we going?"

Her captain paused and half-turned to face her. "To see an old friend."

She eyed him warily and fell into step behind him again as he left the path and headed towards the wooded area behind Thirteenth's border.

He finally came to a stop beside two carved markers, each bearing the insignia of the souls that they represented. "Ukitake-taichou? Why are we here?"

Ukitake sighed and carefully sat down in the long grass beside the markers, motioning for her to do the same. "I had a visitor last night."

Rukia remained standing, staring at the names on the markers. "Ukitake-taichou?"

Ukitake patted the ground in front of him. "Sit, Rukia."

She couldn't refuse a direct order and slowly lowered herself onto the grass, tucking her legs neatly under her. "With all due respect, I don't see what this has to do with me, Ukitake-taichou."

Ukitake waved a hand in the air. "There is no need for formalities, Rukia. I just wondered if you might know anything about the state my visitor was in."

"Who was it?"

"Ichigo."

Rukia looked away, her cheeks burning. "Oh."

"He wanted a gate back to the real world. It took some time for him to calm down and be able to stabilise his reiatsu enough for the trip through, but he wouldn't give me a reason as to why he was in such a state. Do you know?"

Rukia looked at her hands. "I left him."

If Ukitake had been several hundreds of years younger he might have choked. "What? What on earth for?"

Rukia sighed. "I have a duty to the clan, Ukitake-taichou. And a duty to my brother."

"What does that have to do with you and Ichigo?"

"Everything." Rukia reached out and ran a hand along one of the markers. "They told me I had to leave him."

Ukitake frowned. "I don't understand. As far as I'm aware Byakuya had given you his blessing. Surely he wouldn't try to split you up."

"Byakuya wasn't there. The New Charter and the Elders all agreed to the motion and Hideyoshi vouched for Byakuya's decision."

"When was this?"

"Yesterday, I think. I don't know."

The frown deepened. "Rukia, Byakuya has been away with his division the last three days."

"It doesn't mean he couldn't make the decision. They've probably been sitting on this for months. It doesn't matter anyway, the clan has agreed and I have to uphold my duty to them."

"What about your duty to Ichigo?" Ukitake reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. "He is in love with you, Rukia. Does that not mean anything?"

"Of course it does! But I can't go against my own brother, I can't leave him alone. I tried to change their minds, I tried to convince them to let Ichigo stay. But it didn't work. What am I meant to do?"

Ukitake shook his head slowly. "Talk to Byakuya."

Rukia gaped at him for a moment. "What do you mean? He's obviously not going to want to change anything, seeing as he agreed to all this."

"Byakuya has been through a similar relationship before, Rukia. I highly doubt that he would be agreeing with this motion. Talk to him."

Rukia sighed and clenched her hands in the grass. "It's too late, Ukitake-taichou. It doesn't matter what I do. Ichigo won't come back to me."

**XXX**

"Ichigo!"

Karin ran down the stairs, waving Ichigo's results in the air. "Ichigo, wait!"

Ichigo didn't stop, striding towards the front door. "Not now, Karin." He really _wasn't _in the mood to deal with any more bullshit.

"Wait, you idiot!" Karin pulled to a stop beside him and grabbed his shoulder so that she could turn him around to face her, pulling on his arm as he tried to step away. "Wait!"

He scowled down at her and adjusted his bag on his back. "I said not now, Karin."

"We need to talk."

"So you can yell at me some more? Call me a self-centred asshole and accuse me of wanting to commit suicide? Thanks, but no thanks Karin. I've had enough of that shit." He tried to turn away and open the door but she yanked his arm harder, forcing him down to her level.

"I wasn't going to!"

Ichigo snorted and pulled away from her grasp. "You found something else then? Maybe now you'll start going on about how I'm a murderer, how I almost got Yuzu killed in the war. I don't need reminding of my mistakes, Karin. So just leave me alone."

"That's not fair."

"Nothing's fair, Karin."

"Just give me two minutes, Ichigo. I want to talk."

"Well I don't." He reached behind him and turned the handle, adjusting his bag again before stepping over the threshold. "I'm going. Tell Yuzu and Dad I said goodbye to them."

He was gone before she could reply.

**XXX**

"Yoruichi."

The dark skinned woman turned away from the crates she was filling - since when had she actually started _helping_ around the shouten? - and crossed her arms, eyeing him warily. "You are not getting your sake back, Kisuke."

"Why are you working?" He leant against the door frame and adjusted his hat so that he could meet her gaze. "And I don't want it."

Yoruichi smiled slightly and turned away, putting the lid on the last crate and waving a hand in the air. "You don't need it. It's been long enough, hasn't it?"

"Four years." Urahara looked at the floor and absentmindedly tapped his fingers against Benihime. "It's been four years since she died."

"No."

"Eh?" Urahara tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean no?"

"It's been four years, six months and fourteen days. I could go to hours for you, but I might need a minute or so to work it out."

"You counted?"

Yoruichi moved past him. "You're not the only one who lost someone, Kisuke."

By the time he realised the double meaning of her words she was gone.

"Oh."

**XXX**

He was greeted with a grunt as he unlocked the door to his and Chad's rather shabby student flat and replied in turn, swinging his bag off his back and letting it drop to the hall floor.

"You eaten?"

"Yeah." Ichigo flopped down on the couch - the only comfortable thing in the place - and grabbed the bottle of sake off the table. It was tradition for them to have a drink on a Friday night, but as his first dish went straight down his throat he realised that maybe _a _drink just wouldn't cut it.

He was pouring his fourth when Chad reached over and took the sake bottle from him. "That's enough."

"No it's not."

Chad fixed him with the eye that wasn't obscured by hair and Ichigo clenched his free fist. "_Chad_."

"Why are you back?"

Ichigo turned away from his long time friend and gripped his dish tightly. "Rukia."

Chad reached over and picked up the sake bottle again, filling Ichigo's dish to the brim without a word, then half-filled his own. Ichigo stared at him for a second then downed half of his sake in one go, ignoring the burning in his throat as he prepared to down the rest.

"Slow, Ichigo."

He nodded and swirled the almost transparent liquid around the dish, barely noticing the small drops spilling over the sides and onto his hands.

They sat in silence for several minutes, taking their time with their remaining sake.

"She broke it off."

Chad's visible eye widened.

"She chose the clan over me."

Chad sighed and leant back against the couch, resting his dish on the arm.

"Completely out of the blue. Just turned around and said she wanted to end it."

Chad nodded and refilled Ichigo's dish.

"She told me she wanted this." He waved a hand in the air and grunted when the sake sloshed over the sides of the dish and ran down his arm. "Then told me that breaking up was what was best for us. Stupid."

Chad took a sip of his own sake and nodded again.

"I told her I wasn't going to go back." Ichigo tipped the remaining liquid down his throat. "Fuck."

Chad reached over and took the dish out of Ichigo's hands, who glared at him before realising he was filling it with the last of the sake.

He took the dish out of his friend's hands and stared through the clear liquid at the wood beneath.

"I think we need another bottle."

* * *

_There you go, the seventh chapter of Cessation. Hope you enjoyed and have the time to leave a comment!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey!_

_Quick update from me this time! The snow didn't stay for long so I had plenty of time to do some writing! Yay!_

_A quick big thanks to those who read and reviewed the last chapter and to **Matsumama **who went and read all of my fics! Much love - if you like Kisuke (His hat is still mine bitch) then go check out her fics, they are really good! :Hides because she still hasn't reviewed them - or **gokusgirls**: **Namimakura and Feilyn **also write some damn good stuff, as does **Inazagi. **Don't say you I don't repay you for pimpage Feilyn!_

_**Feilyn **was a big help again, despite the surfing the net for funny topics in Fanfictionrants and numerous other things._

_Anyway I'm sure you've heard enough from me, so I shall leave you to Chapter Eight!_

* * *

"He's not answering." Yuzu placed the phone back on the hook and rubbed her forehead tiredly. "Why won't he answer?"

"He's probably shit-faced."

Yuzu turned to Jinta and frowned. "Don't swear."

The redhead shrugged, hoisting his lithe form onto the kitchen bench and ruffling her hair. "He's comatose then. Drunker than a skunk." He frowned. "It doesn't sound as impressive without the swearing."

She pushed his hand away gently. "He's had classes all week. I don't think he would be getting drunk." Well, she hoped he wasn't.

"From what you've told me he would." Jinta reached into the cupboard above him and after fumbling around blindly for a few seconds produced a glass. "I mean, the guy's dying and Karin practically tore his head off about it. Then Seireitei tried to recruit him as soon as they found out too. Not to mention Rukia dumped him." He leaned over and balanced precariously over the sink, the glass hovering under the tap. "Fill."

Yuzu shook her head at her friend, but obliged. "Maybe he went back to Seireitei. Did Urahara-san say anything?"

Jinta scowled and sculled the water, refusing to meet her gaze. "I don't generally talk to him all that much. You know, since…"

Yuzu sighed and rested a hand on his knee. "I'm sorry. I forgot."

"It's okay." Jinta shrugged and moved his other knee up to his chest, balancing his empty glass on it. "There was a gate last night, though."

Yuzu looked up at him hopefully. "Do you think Ichi-nii used it?"

"Don't know." Jinta slipped off the bench and dumped his glass in the sink, shrugging again. "Couldn't be stuffed trying to place the reiatsu - I was still half-asleep. But how about we go talk to Tessai?"

Yuzu nodded. "Okay!"

**XXX**

"Oi! Kurosaki!"

Ichigo turned and shielded his eyes against the glare coming off of Renji's sunglasses. "What do _you _want?"

The slightly taller man jogged to catch up with him. "What'd ya do to Rukia?"

Ichigo snorted. "What makes you think I did something to her?"

Renji pushed his glasses onto his head. "Cos she's a bloody mess, eh. Almost took off Kiyone's and Sentaro's heads from what I heard. You know, the one who lost half her leg and that kid she's always arguing with? Anyway, figured something must be happening between you two for her to lose it like that."

"Nothing's happening." Ichigo turned on heel and walked away, cursing under his breath as the other shinigami fell into step beside him.

"Ah, is that it? You not putting out or something man?"

"Piss off."

"Aw don't be such a prude." Renji clapped a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "We're both men."

Ichigo glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and snorted again. "Stop living in denial, Renji."

Renji waved it off. "So, what's the issue then? Judging by how late you were to that meeting last week I gather you _are _putting out. So why's she pissy?"

Ichigo glared at him and lengthened his stride. "None of your damn business, Abarai."

"Hey, I've known Rukia a long time - she's my best friend. If something's making her unhappy then it is my business."

"I don't want to talk about it." Ichigo stopped and faced Renji again, dropping his gaze to the ground. "I have things to do. See you later."

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo stopped mid-shunpo and swore as he almost fell. "What?"

"After you're done accepting that offer, come find me. I'll shout you some sake and we can catch up. What d'ya reckon?"

"How the fuck did you know I was here to accept it?"

Renji grinned and tapped his nose. "Come on, Ichigo. _Everyone _knew you would take it. We're not stupid."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and made to shunpo away again. "Denial, Renji."

Renji laughed and raised a hand in salute. "See you later?"

"Yeah."

**XXX**

"Tessai!" Jinta barged through the half-open doors of the shouten and cursed as he tripped over a bottle of sake on the floor. "Stupid piece of shit!"

"Jinta-kun! Please don't swear!"

"You've been trying to break him of that habit for four years, Yuzu. I don't think it's going to happen."

Yuzu gasped, whirling around and automatically bowing. "Yoruichi-san."

Yoruichi smiled and reached out to drag the girl back upright by her chin. "It's Yoruichi. No need to be formal, Kisuke lives here."

Jinta snorted. "Got that right. Stupid idiot doesn't know what manners are."

"And neither do you." Yoruichi grinned at the boy. "So what do you want Tessai for?"

"Yuzu's getting worried about the berry." Jinta glanced across at his friend and shook his head. "We wanted to see if the gate last night was his."

"Please." Yuzu added.

Yoruichi nodded. "Sure thing. You'll have to ask Kisuke though, Tessai's out getting some things for the store."

"We'll come back later then. I don't want to talk to Urahara." Jinta stepped back out of the shouten and made to walk away. "Come on, Yuzu."

"He's stopped drinking, Jinta. And you need to stop blaming him for what happened to Ururu. It's been four years."

"So? I know it's been four years. But you know what? In four years that asshole hasn't spoken a word to me. In four years he hasn't even said sorry for killing her!" Jinta shook his head and spat on the ground. "Whatever."

"Jinta-kun!" Yuzu grabbed his arm and shook it gently. "That's not nice."

Jinta glared at her. "Whatever, Yuzu. Let's go. We'll come back when Tessai's around."

"You have to face him sometime, Jinta." Yoruichi smiled slightly. "Or are you not man enough to?"

Jinta scowled and roughly pushed past her. "Course I fucking am. Oi! Urahara! Get your ass out here!"

Yuzu shot the older woman an apologetic glance. "I really wish he wouldn't swear, Yoruichi-san."

Yoruichi shrugged. "Nothing I haven't heard before. And it's Yoruichi, remember?"

"Yuzu, come on!"

Yuzu blushed and nodded. "I guess I should go with him. Thank you."

Yoruichi grinned. "No problem, kid. Just keep him from hitting Kisuke too hard, will ya?"

Yuzu smiled slightly and stepped past her, and into the shouten. "I'll try."

**XXX**

"Representative Kurosaki."

Ichigo opened the door to the soutaichou's office and grinned upon seeing the piles of paper littering the large desk. "Yami-jii. You're actually doing some work today?"

The older man shook his head at the disrespectful tone and motioned to the chair in front of his desk. "Something you know little about I assume, Kurosaki. Sit."

Ichigo collapsed into the seat and stretched his arms above his head. "I do more work than Shunsui."

"You consider that an achievement?" Yamamoto finished signing a form and put his brush away.

Ichigo frowned. "Not really."

Yamamoto nodded and met his gaze. "I take it you are not here for small talk, Kurosaki. Do you have an answer for me yet?"

Ichigo sighed, sitting up straight. "I have some conditions."

The old man sighed in turn and leant back in his chair. "What are they?"

"I want a free pass back to the real world. Just because I'm dead doesn't mean that I should neglect my family and friends. I want to be able to go back and see them." Ichigo scowled. "Of course, once I'm sure Karin's not going to kick my ass."

"I can't give you that." The older man met Ichigo's glare impassively. "I can offer a compromise though."

"What is it?"

"A week every six months. Special occasions included."

"Not good enough. That's hardly a compromise, six months is a long time, Yami-jii."

"Four months then. You are going to be running a division, Kurosaki. You are hardly going to have enough time to spend weeks on end in the real world."

"Three months."

The soutaichou closed his eyes and thought for a moment, before nodding slightly. "On the understanding that your division will not suffer because of your absence. What was your other condition?"

"Keep Zaraki the fuck away from me."

"With his sense of direction he is hardly a threat to you. Anything other conditions?"

Ichigo snorted. "No."

Yamamoto leant forward in his seat and tented his hands under his chin. "Then will you take the position as Fifth Division's Taichou?"

"Yes."

**XXX**

"Ru-kia"

"Ruuukkkiiiiiaaaaa."

"Piss off Renji. I am not going to get drunk with you." Rukia signed the report she was working on and reached for another.

Renji pouted and lifted his sunglasses off his head. "Why not?"

"Because I don't take as much delight in getting plastered as you do. And I need to see nii-sama."

"He's piled under mountains of paperwork - one of the recruits got injured while we were on the mission."

"Then why aren't you there with him?"

"Snuck out." He grinned. "Come on, just one drink."

"You can't sneak around nii-sama. You should know that by now."

Renji shrugged. "Well he hasn't come after me yet so I figured I'm either not needed, or I was annoying him."

"I wonder why."

"Come on, Rukia. Have _one_ drink with me?"

"Your idea of one is other people's idea of ten. No."

"I promise it'll be one this time. You can send me over paperwork from Thirteenth if it turns out to be more than that, okay?"

"Renji, we both know you won't do it." Rukia shook her head at her friend and motioned to the door. "Out. I'm not really in the mood for this."

"Don't be so mean, Rukia. One drink. Come on, it's not going to do any harm." He grinned at her again and clasped his hands in mock-prayer. "Please?"

Rukia sighed and gave in. Stupid best friend. "Fine."

* * *

_Well there it is. Chapter Numero Eighto? Meh. Hope you liked the chapter and I shall now go hide in my corner again and hope you have the time to leave a comment! :Hides:_


	9. Chapter 9

_Well, much struggling and a drabble later, Cessation Nine is finally finished. Thank gawd for that. You have no idea how hard this chapter was. Seriously. Not to mention my usual laptop is well, stuffed. The screen is broken and the battery lasts ten minutes. So I'm typing on a /acer/ which is just killing me._

_Anyway, thanks heaps to all those who reviewed last chapter got some lovely reviews from all of you! You all rock!_

_You may have noticed, but there is a new crossover on the block. It's called **Ozymandias** and is absolutely epic. It is co-written by **Feilyn** and **Bellzooks** and can be found on the formers profile. It is a flawless merge of both worlds and is epicly sad and emotional with the obligatory fun times in there as well. Go check it out!_

_Soooo...without any further ado, here is Cessation Nine!_

After a good hour or so signing paperwork with Yamamoto, Ichigo was beginning to be thankful for Renji's offer of a drink.

"Pain in the ass." He muttered as he walked through the West Gate. "Shit!"

He dodged automatically as a large fist crashed into the ground in front of him, missing by mere inches. "Jidanbou! What the fuck was that for?"

The man shrugged. "You looked like you needed a good fight. Come on, I can beat you this time."

Ichigo glared at him. "You sound like fucking Zaraki."

Jidanbou just grinned and rested a hand on his zanpakutou. "So you've taken the job, then?"

Ichigo scowled. "How does everyone know about that?."

The guard only shrugged and motioned to the Rukongai. "You going drinking?"

"Renji's shout. Know where he is?"

"Usual place."

Ichigo snorted. "That'd be right. Cheap bastard."

"He always has been."

Ichigo readjusted Zangetsu and turned away. "I figured. I'll see you later, I'm late as it is."

Jidanbou just nodded and smirked. "Aren't you always late?"

"Shut up."

**XXX**

Yuzu followed Jinta into the dark of the shouten, trying her best to ignore his muttered cursing as he grew more and more irritated with not being able to find Urahara.

"Urahara! Where the hell are you?"

There was no reply, so he opened the door to the lounge and barged inside. 

The man in question was sitting slumped in a chair, snoring loudly and drooling slightly, hand wrapped around a bottle of sake.

Jinta snorted. "Why doesn't that surprise me? Not drinking my ass." He reached out and smacked Urahara hard across the back of the head, sending his hat flying. A long leg untangled itself and stretched out, catching the green and white fabric on a clog-clad foot.

Yuzu stared for a second. "How?"

"Practice." Yoruichi entered the room behind them, having decided that it would be safest if she was there to pry Jinta off Kisuke. "I've hit him like that so many times that it's become second nature."

"She's right." Kisuke pulled himself upright, pulling the hat off his foot and putting it on. "It's a bit harder to predict the trajectory with her though."

Jinta just scowled. "I thought you said he had given up drinking?"

Kisuke looked guilty and edged away from Yoruichi. "It's a reflex. The bottle was empty, I promise."

"Bullshit. That's no fucking…"

"Jinta-kun!" Yuzu grabbed his arm. "Enough swearing, please!"

"Che." He shook his arm from her grasp and turned away. "Whatever."

Yuzu sighed, giving up trying to rectify her friends attitude. "Urahara-san, I was wondering if you had heard from Ichi-nii? He hasn't called all week."

Kisuke nodded and tore his gaze away from Jinta's back. "He used a gate last night to see the soutaichou. Apart from that I don't know what the strawberry's been up to. Probably getting drunk."

"Ichi-nii doesn't get drunk."

"He's a student, Yuzu. They all get drunk." Yoruichi grinned and stepped closer to Kisuke, having spotted Jinta's tensing shoulders. "He'll be fine. Tell you what, when he comes back through that gate I'll send him straight to you so you can knock some sense into the idiot. How about that?"

Yuzu looked mortified. "I wouldn't hit Ichi-nii!"

"I would." Jinta turned back to face them, his face set carefully in a blank expression that was scarily similar to Kisuke's. "He's an idiot."

"So are you." Yoruichi retorted and glared at Kisuke as he coughed. "You're an idiot too Kisuke, so you can shut up."

"I'm not!" Kisuke pouted. "You're so mean to me Yoruichi."

"Yes, you are." Jinta crossed his arms. "You're also a bastard."

"Jinta-kun! Please!" Yuzu rested a hand on his arm and frowned when he shrugged it off again. "No swearing."

Jinta sighed. "It's true. He's an asshole as well, Yuzu."

Kisuke glanced at Yoruichi. "Don't you think I know that?

"Obviously you don't." Jinta stepped forward and scowled down at the older man. "Or you would have apologized four years ago."

Kisuke stared at him blankly, then sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Jinta…"

"Save it." Jinta turned away and moved towards the door. "It means nothing now anyway. Come on, Yuzu."

Yuzu hurried after him, leaving Yoruichi and Kisuke behind. "Jinta-kun! Wait for me, please!"

Yoruichi reached out and rested a hand on Kisuke's shoulder as they left. "He'll come around, Kisuke."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Yoruichi."

**XXX**

The bar was crowded as always, though it wasn't particularly hard to spot Renji leaning against one of the tables. Or rather, it wasn't particularly hard to spot his hair.

"Oi. You going to buy me my drink?"

Renji jumped and spun around, grinning like the idiot he was. "Ichigo!"

"Hey." Ichigo slid onto one of the seats and leant against the tabletop with a groan, burying his head in his hands. "Do you usually do _that_ much paperwork?"

"We're meant to." Renji nudged him and laughed. "Rukia's getting some sake by the way. I finally convinced her to come along and have a drink for once."

Ichigo scowled and sat up. "I…What? Why is she here, Renji?"

Renji winked. "Just doin' my bit to help out."

Ichigo sighed and focussed his gaze on a small stain in the middle of the table. "There's not much you can really do, Renji."

"Eh?" Renji turned away from the table and waved madly. "Rukia!"

Ichigo collapsed into the back of the chair with a groan as she approached, pausing for a second when she spotted him.

"What's he doing here, Renji?"

Renji shrugged. "I promised him a drink."

She sent him a glare cold enough to rival her zanpakutou and thrust his bottle of sake roughly in front of him before moving towards the chair on his other side. "Whatever."

Renji grinned and took the seat before she could, then gestured to the empty space beside Ichigo. "Here, have my seat."

She muttered something about monkey's under her breath and sank into the chair, sliding a dish over to Ichigo and filling it and hers with sake from Renji's bottle before he could drink it all.

Ichigo glanced over at her for a second, then rested an elbow on the table and downed his sake.

Renji watched them for a moment, then sighed dramatically and scanned the room. "Ran-chan!!"

The blonde woman blinked, then waved enthusiastically in return. Promptly, Renji slid off his chair and waltzed over to her, leaving Ichigo and Rukia behind. "I'll be right back!"

Rukia glared at his retreating back and stole his forgotten sake bottle, topping up her drink and tipping half of it down her throat. Ichigo merely flicked his gaze up from the table long enough to see the red-head maul Rangiku, then sighed and resumed staring at the same stain.

They remained in silence for several minutes, Rukia slowly finishing the rest of her sake and Ichigo tapping his fingers against the table. Eventually she sighed, dropping her dish unceremoniously onto the table and getting to her feet.

"I need to go. I have to see nii-sama."

Ichigo's fingers paused in their tapping and he nodded slightly and sighed. "Sure."

One of her hands rose on instinct, but she stopped it before it rested on his shoulder and turned away, her chest tightening. "I…I have to go."

He nodded again and reached for the sake bottle.

"So….I….Ichigo…."

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" He asked icily, topping up his drink and turning away.

She stared at his back for a moment, her hand twisting in her obi. "….yeah."

"Then shouldn't you leave?"

"Ichigo…I…I just want to….."

"Save it, Rukia." He turned to face her again and she flinched at the hurt in his eyes. "I don't need to hear this right now, okay?"

She swallowed down the lump in her throat. "…okay."

He stayed silent as she left, waiting for the doors to close before slamming the bottle down onto the table. "Shit!"

* * *

_Well, there it is. They finally meet again. Hope you liked this chapter, and have the time to leave a review!_


	10. Chapter 10

_I'm back!_

_Thanks so much to all those that reviewed the last chapter (you all rock so hard), and I'm sorry about the late update, but you know - /life/ got a hold of me. I'm stage manager for our school production Grease, and in charge of the badminton for two sports exchanges, not to mention prep for my **seven **exams. Argh._

_Again, thanks to the lovely **Feilyn** for the help with this one again, and here is some pimpage for you and Bella love - Go check out their collab, **Ozymandias - It's Epic win! **(Can be found in my profile)_

_I have found a new writer! **Lira1123 **- who writes the most fantastic stuff ever - go check her out later and leave a review! She is definately worth it! (Can also be found in my profile)_

_Cessation has hit the ten chapter milestone! And is now part of a series! Yay!_

_The **Evolution **series now entails two fics, **Cessation, **and it's prequel which was posted yesterday, **Coitus.** _

_Sooo cool!_

_Anyway, enough of my blathering, this chapter is long enough as it is without me adding to it with senseless chatter..._

_So I hope you enjoy Cessation 10! And have the time to leave a review!_

* * *

"What the hell did you do?"

Ichigo glanced up as Renji returned, running a finger around the rim of the now empty sake bottle as the red head placed two full ones on the table. "What?"

"Dude, she didn't even make an effort to talk things through with you. Are things that bad?" He blanched. "She's not pregnant, is she? God, Byakuya's gonna bankai on your arse."

Ichigo choked. "What the fuck gave you that idea?"

"Well, she's moody, she hasn't spoken to Byakuya in over a week…and you two go at it like rabbits." Renji grinned and took Rukia's vacated seat, tilting it back and resting his feet on the table. "She is, isn't she?"

"No!" Ichigo resisted the urge to throw the empty bottle at his friend. "It's…it's not that, okay?"

"Then what did ya do? Ask her to marry you or something?" Renji laughed. "Did she reject you?"

This time, Ichigo did throw the sake bottle. "Shut the fuck up, Renji. What the hell makes you think it was me? And it's nothing like that."

The other man caught the bottle with ease. "Because it's always you?"

"Piss off."

"That's not very nice. Come on, what is it?" Renji spun the bottle in his hands and righted his chair. "If she's not pregnant, and you haven't popped the question, then why are you avoiding each other like the plague? Did she dump you or something?"

Ichigo didn't answer, dropping his head into his hands and pulling roughly at his hair, somewhat grateful that it hadn't started falling out while he was in his spirit form as well.

"No…way." Renji's jaw dropped. "I was right? She _dumped _you?"

Ichigo shrugged. "What's it matter to you? What we do isn't any of your business."

"We've been over this before, strawberry. It _is _my business. So come on, tell me what happened. Or I'll…"

"You'll what? Throw a banana at me? And don't call me that." Ichigo snorted. "It's done, Renji. I just want to move on and get over all of this so I can spend time with my family before I cark it. So can you stop with the questions?"

"I resent that. So what happened? Did you fight?" Renji paused and shook his head. "No, that doesn't work. You guys always fight."

"Renji, shut your fucking trap."

"Ichigo, stop being such a girl. What happened?"

Ichigo sighed and took a swig of sake straight from the bottle. "Can I get out of here if I do?"

Renji shrugged, twirling his full bottle expertly in his palm before pulling off the top and following suit. "So long as I don't get half-arsed answers and you don't waste that sake."

"Fine." Ichigo took another swig and cradled the bottle in his hands. "You're a pushy bastard, you know that?"

Renji just shrugged. "I know."

**XXX**

"That was rude, Jinta-kun."

Her friend shrugged and kicked a stone along the ground, eyes tracking its path so he could kick it again. "He hasn't been the nicest to me either, Yuzu."

"Does it matter?" Yuzu stopped and took his arm, turning him to face her. "Jinta-kun, it's been four years. One of you needs to take the initiative and stop being so stubborn."

Jinta scowled, then pulled away and kicked the stone again. "I'm not stubborn."

Yuzu laughed and fell into step with him. "Of course, Jinta-kun."

He stuck his tongue out at her and she giggled as he tripped over the stone. "Shut up, you."

She shook her head, her hands over her mouth in an attempt to stop the giggles. "I can't."

He shook his head and tugged at the collar of his shirt before walking away. "Are you going to cook me dinner or not?"

"Are you going to ask nicely?"

He grunted and threw his hands in the air. "You're a pain, you know that?"

"I'm a pain that cooks you dinner when you ask nicely."

"Che." Jinta rolled his eyes and continued down the street, stopping just outside the door to the clinic and crossing his arms. "Can you please cook me dinner?"

"If you do something for me first, Jinta-kun." Yuzu smiled innocently. "Just one more thing."

"I said please! Isn't that enough?" He pouted. "I'm hungry, Yuzu."

"When aren't you?" Both Yuzu and Jinta jumped as Karin poked her head out of the door. "Have you seen Ichigo, Yuzu?"

"He's in the Sereitei, talking with Yamamoto-san. I think it's about being a taichou." Jinta replied. "Yuzu, can I eat now?"

"Jinta, stop being such a pig."

"Karin, stop being such a cow."

She flipped him the bird. "Piss off."

"Karin-chan! Jinta-kun! Please!"

Surprisingly, they both closed their mouths. "Yes, Yuzu."

Yuzu smiled and moved carefully past Karin into the house. "Do you want some dinner, Karin-chan? And then maybe we can try to call Ichi-nii."

Karin nodded and elbowed Jinta as he tried to barge past her. "Sure thing, Yuzu."

Yuzu smiled happily as Jinta swore under his breath at her twin and tripped over himself in an effort to beat her to the kitchen. "What ya' cooking?"

She shrugged and ducked as Karin threw an apple at Jinta. "Isn't it enough that she's cooking for you at all? You can eat what you're given. And why don't you go scavenge off Urahara for once?"

"Because he's an asshole."

"Why?" She caught the apple when he threw it back at her and examined it carefully, before taking a bite. "Has he still not said anything?"

"Piss off, Karin. It has nothing to do with you."

"Jinta-kun." Yuzu waved the spoon she was using at him without turning. "Swearing, please."

He stuck his tongue out at her behind her back and gaped as she took a pinch of salt and threw it over her shoulder at him. "What was that for, Yuzu?"

She blinked obliviously and turned to face him. "What?"

"You threw salt at me!"

"She always does it." Karin smiled. "The old goat said it was an old tradition of mum's. Something about luck. So, what are you going to do about Urahara?"

Jinta shrugged. "Nothing. I'm not the one who has to apologise."

Yuzu sighed and turned back to the stove. "I think you both need to apologise, Jinta-kun. Just like I apologised to Ichi-nii, and he apologised to me."

"He didn't apologise to me." Karin mumbled around another bite of apple.

"He would, but you haven't apologised to him, Karin-chan." Yuzu squeaked and another pinch of salt flew at Jinta as her hand flew to her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

Karin shrugged and threw her apple core at Jinta, before jumping onto the bench and stealing a piece of celery from the chopping board Yuzu was using. "Put that in the bin, Jinta. And it's okay, Yuzu. I wasn't very nice to him."

"You're never nice to anyone." Jinta threw the core back at her. "And throw away your own rubbish, I'm not your damn slave."

"And Yuzu isn't yours." She ducked as he threw a punch at her this time, and kicked him in the gut in response. "Do you think he would talk to me if we called him, Yuzu?"

"I think maybe you need to go and see him rather than just call, Karin-chan. And Jinta-kun, please stop fighting with her."

"She started it!"

Karin nodded and leant back against the cupboards. "All right. But will you come with me? In case he whips out Zangetsu?"

Yuzu nodded and smiled. "I don't think Ichi-nii would do that, but of course I will."

Karin grinned and reached out to ruffle Yuzu's hair. "Thanks, Yuzu."

**XXX**

Sixth Division, as always, was impeccably clean and well-ordered.

Well, except for Renji's portion of the office, which looked like a herd of Ganju's boars had rampaged through it.

Idiot.

Byakuya's office was separated from the rest of the seated officers desks, which was probably a good thing because of the extra load of paperwork that he had to complete (Renji never did his own) and because she knew her brother couldn't cope with the incessant noise Renji and Rangiku (who had been spending more and more time at Sixth for whatever reason) created in the Division on a regular basis.

There was a reason that sake had been almost banned in the Sixth, and they were it.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to ignore the blatant staring of the third and fourth seats. No doubt they had realised that she was the one who had once slapped _the _Kurosaki Ichigo in the middle of _the _Hisagi Shuuhei's taichou ceremony for no apparent reason at all.

What they didn't know was that he was trying to throw things at Renji when the baboon had his back turned. Which, until she had slapped Ichigo, had been for the entire first hour of the ceremony.

"Are you planning to loiter outside all day, Rukia?"

She jumped and swore slightly under her breath as her brother opened the door to his office and looked down at her, the tiniest of quirks at the edges of his lips. "I'm sorry, Nii-sama. May I come in?"

He stepped aside and closed the door behind her, before crossing the office and settling himself in his chair. "Would you like tea?"

She lowered herself into the chair in front of his desk and shook her head, folding her hands in her lap. "No thank you. How are you, nii-sama?"

He nodded slightly and signed a 317 form (approval for medical leave). "I am fine. But I assume you are not here for small talk, Rukia."

She nodded and tried to stop her fingers twisting together nervously, to no avail. "No, I'm not."

He nodded again and moved the 317 to the side, putting his brush back into it's holder. "Is it clan business? Or something more personal?"

"Both."

He scrutinised her carefully, then leant back in his seat. "What is bothering you, Rukia?"

She sighed and looked at her hands, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Why did you want me to end it with Ichigo, Nii-sama?"

* * *

_There it is! Finally! I really hope you enjoyed this one, and have the time to leave me a review! Thanks for reading! And I hope you have time to check out **Coitus!**_


	11. Chapter 11

_Wow! Cessation 11! It's done!_

_Thank you so, so much for the response to the last chapter! It was just fantastic. Totally blew me away. 105 reviews for Cess! DANCE! You all rock, so hard._

_Especially **Feilyn,** who sucks at reviewing, but is the bestest Beta ever! Mwoh! Don't forget to check out her collab with **Bellzooks **called **Ozymandias.** Good times._

_And the beginning of the whole IchiRuki relationship in the **Evolution **series is also up, **Coitus.** So if you want a IchiRuki fix, go check it out!_

_Right enough talking (and shamelessly pimping), time to leave you to it!_

_Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

"You lied to me."

Byakuya's eyebrows twitched into a slight frown. "I'm sorry?"

"You gave me your word that you were okay with me being with Ichigo, Nii-sama!" Rukia ignored the sharp pain of her fingernails biting into her palms. "So why did you order me to end it with him?"

His facial expression didn't change, but Rukia had been around her brother enough now to feel the confused air around him. "I did no such thing, Rukia."

"Don't give me that crap. You told the New Charter to act on your behalf and to disown me if I didn't leave him! You're the only one who can authorise such a thing, so don't you dare try to say you didn't!"

This time the confusion actually moved on to his face. "Rukia, I did not order for you to be separated from Ichigo. The last I spoke to the clan of the two of you, it was to assure them that you had my blessing. I've not seen the majority of them since our meeting a month ago."

Rukia stared. "What?"

Byakuya sighed and closed his eyes briefly. "I passed no order for you to end your relationship with Kurosaki. They lied to you, Rukia, for whatever reason."

"Oh." Rukia collapsed into the back of her chair. "But Hideyoshi said…"

"Kuchiki Hideyoshi is a mere irritation who started the New Charter in an attempt to become something more. Anything he says is for his personal gain only." He paused and reached for another form. "I take it you realise that, Rukia."

Rukia nodded and looked back down at her hands. "Yes, Nii-sama."

"Then disregard the incident for now. We will bring it to attention at the next meeting and I will deal with Hideyoshi and the New Charter." He picked up his brush and began reading through the form, signing it and reaching for another.

"It's too late, Nii-sama. I've ended it."

The brush slipped in her brother's hand, leaving a dark scar of ink on the paper.

**XXX**

"Ichigo! Ichigo, Ichigo, Ichigo!"

Ichigo ducked as Isshin jumped towards him, sending his father crashing to the ground with a not-so-gentle foot to the back. "Who the fuck gave you sugar? Urahara!"

Isshin pouted, and pulled himself back up on his feet. "That's not very nice, Ichigo."

Ichigo shrugged. "Don't care."

"Now, now, Ichigo. I'm sure you really do care for him." Urahara popped out from behind the groaning Isshin and waved Benihime in a circle. "He's your father."

"That wasn't my idea. He's a pain in the arse." Ichigo planted his palm in Isshin's face as he tried to hug him. "Get off me, old man."

"I just want to talk to you, Ichigo!"

"You can talk to me without the mauling, and when I've had some sleep."

"It's important, Ichigo." Isshin stopped trying to hug him and stepped back, crossing his arms - attitude suddenly doing a complete one-eighty. "It's about you dying."

"I know all about it." Ichigo turned away and headed towards the ladder that lead to the upper portion of the shouten. "Too much about it." He shuddered. "I didn't really need to know the finer details about the whole rigor mortis and shitting myself part."

"It's about your hollow." Urahara leant carefully on Benihime, peering out from under his hat. "But if you still want to go and sleep…"

Ichigo sighed and shook his head. "Tell me. If something is going to happen with the bastard and it concerns me, I want to know about it. Now."

"It's been quiet, hasn't it?" Isshin lowered himself to the ground and motioned for Ichigo to sit opposite him. "Kisuke said he had noticed your reiatsu wasn't as openly tainted as usual."

"Thanks. Make me sound like a disease why don't ya, Urahara?"

The older man shrugged and joined them on the dirt of his training room, adjusting his hat. "Have you thought about what is going to happen when you die?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Hopefully the fucker goes away."

"He won't." Isshin glanced over at Kisuke and frowned. "Kisuke thinks that when you get weaker and eventually die, the transition is going to leave an opening for it to take over."

"He won't." Ichigo glared at Urahara. "I won't let him."

"I don't think you would have a choice in it, Ichigo." Urahara adjusted his hat again and sighed. "If you wait to die naturally, then you will be weaker than him, and he _will _take over. The only option we have is to plan ahead so that we can make sure that he doesn't have the power to overwhelm you."

"And how are we going to do that?" Ichigo frowned and ran a hand through his hair. "It's not like I can say I want to pop my clogs this week so my hollow can't try take over my soul."

Urahara moved closer to Isshin and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I think we should set a date for it."

Ichigo choked. "What the fuck?"

"We think it would be best to set a date for you to die, you idiot." Isshin leant forward and flicked Ichigo's forehead. "Pay attention."

"You can't do that! That's…" He paused. "Completely insane!"

"Which is what you will be if you give him an opening to take over. If we can plan ahead and get some barriers in place to keep you contained, you can fight it out with him while we stop you from hurting anyone." Isshin sighed and crossed his arms. "It's the only option we have."

"Bullshit." Ichigo gripped his hair tightly and glared at Urahara again. "You're supposed to be a genius, aren't you?"

Urahara shrugged nonchalantly. "Sometimes."

"Then do something. I'm not cutting my life short. I want to spend as much time with my friends and the twins as I can before I get shut up in the Seiretei for god knows how many years. Hell, for all we know I could live for another five years!"

"Ichigo…" Isshin paused and glanced back at Urahara again. "You're not going to have five years."

Ichigo shrugged. "A couple then. But I'm not cutting it short."

"You don't even have that, Ichigo." Isshin sighed and rose to his feet, his hand running through his hair in a motion identical to his sons as he moved several steps away. "Kisuke did some tests on your reiatsu."

"And?" Ichigo looked over at Urahara, who was fiddling with the brim of his hat. "How long?"

Isshin turned away, his hand running through his hair again and the other moving to rest on his hip. "Six months. If you're lucky."

Ichigo stared. "What?"

"At four months, we know you'll be too weak to stop the hollow from taking over." Kisuke added, crossing his legs and resting Benihime across his knees. "He'll just be biding his time until then. Maybe. It could be any time. We have to stop it as soon as we can."

"But--" He cut himself off and tried again. "I--" Ichigo shook his head and dropped it into his hands. "Okay. How long do I have then?"

"A month."

He choked. "A _month_? That's too soon."

"We have no other choice, Ichigo. Any longer and we'd be cutting it too fine." Isshin moved behind his son and rested a hand on his shoulder. "It has to be done, Ichigo."

"No. I'm not doing it." Ichigo brushed aside Isshin's hand and got up, pushing past him roughly. "I'm not giving up everything I have in a fucking _month_."

"It's risky leaving it for any longer. We can't be sure exactly when he's going to get stronger than you. We know you can hold him off for at least that long, but if something happens to you then it could be sooner." Isshin followed, grabbing his arm and spinning him around to face him. "Do you want to watch him kill your sisters? Then turn on your friends?"

Ichigo's gaze focussed on the ground, and he tugged his arm out of Isshin's grasp. "No."

"Then we need to do this." Isshin sighed and crossed his arms, suddenly looking tired. "I'm sorry, Ichigo."

Ichigo stayed silent for a minute, then eventually nodded and turned away. "Yeah. Me too."

**XXX**

"Ru-kia!"

Renji pounced on her as soon as she stepped out of Byakuya's office, bottle of sake tucked under one arm, and Rangiku hanging off the other.

Rukia arched an eyebrow. "I thought you two weren't together anymore?"

It was a well known fact that Renji and Rangiku had been doing much of the same thing that she and Ichigo had during the war. The two had already been close, but when Ichimaru Gin was killed by Aizen for supplying information to Rangiku, she had turned to Renji. Who, in his love struck state, had been more than willing to accommodate her.

Thing was, the two of them were both so stubborn and so caught up in their grief, it hadn't lasted all that long. They'd been together on and off ever since the war, until about a year ago when Rangiku had finally gotten completely over the fact that Gin was dead and Renji was beginning to get over Ururu - he had been rather close to the girl, having spent so much time freeloading off Urahara - and they had both realised that they weren't doing the other any good lying about the way they felt about each other. They were still close though, and were often seen consuming copious amounts of sake in the Rukongai, usually with Shunsui in tow.

What Rangiku saw in the monkey was beyond her but then again, she had _lived _with the idiot, so who was she to say anything?

Renji shrugged. "We're not. Ran-chan here has her eyes on your brother now. I'm just helping her figure out how to get into his pants." He paused, and screwed up his nose. "Not that I have experience with his pants or anything."

Rukia frowned. "Rangiku? Byakuya? Really?"

Rangiku nodded and waved her bottle of sake in the air. "Why not? He's a challenge. Renji here is too easy for me."

Renji stuck his tongue out at her and placed his bottle on a pile of paper leaning precariously against his desk, then stole Rangiku's. "Did you tell Byakuya about Ichigo?

"Yes." Rukia sighed and crossed her arms. "He didn't tell the New Charter to pass the order."

Renji snorted and held the bottle out of Rangiku's reach. "I could have told you that. And that's enough, Ran-chan. Do you want to be completely legless in front of Byakuya?"

The woman shook her head and collapsed in Renji's chair, disturbing another pile of paperwork in the process. "Che. Lightweight. I could have ten times this and not be buzzed."

"You know, in most places, that's not something to be proud of." He shook his head at her and tossed the bottles in the trash bin, also overflowing with paperwork. "What are you going to do about it, Rukia?"

Rukia sighed and leant against the wall, dropping her gaze to the floor. "I don't know, Renji. I don't know."

* * *

_There you have it! Hope you enjoyed it! And have the time to review! Thanks for reading!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Hello!! It seems like it's been so long…._

_But it's here! At long last! Cessation 12! And guess what? Two weeks today until I turn eighteen!! And till mock exams…. _

_Before I let you get onto it though, some __**pimpage.**_

_**Namimakura **__has written some fabulous stuff, but is sadly being overlooked and she has been awesome by helping me design Aizen's Bankai, so I think you should all go and check her stuff, she writes an absolutely fab Nemu/Ukitake! You can find her on my profile!_

_**Feilyn**__ of course has helped out heaps with this chapter, picking up on things that I don't so kudos to her too! _

_Anyway time for some self-pimpage. It's my birthday soon, I'm allowed it!_

_**Anniversary - **__written to celebrate mine and Feilyn's first anniversary of working together has been posted! Yay for us!! It's hard to believe it's been a whole year!_

_Hard to believe this also about my fifth or sixth year anniversary on the site! As far as I know anyway…it's been a long, long time, I know that._

_**Cost - **__The third part of the __**Evolution **__series - which describes some events of the war and gives background knowledge on Ururu's death as well as her's, Yuzu's and Jinta's involvement in the war. So if you're wondering exactly how Ururu died, __**go check it out!**_

_That's enough self-pimping for today…and believe it or not I'm out of words…so I'll leave you to Cessation 12!!_

_Hope you enjoy and have the time to leave a review!_

* * *

"Chad?"

Ichigo swore as he tripped over his flatmates bag, and dumped his own beside it. "Chad?"

There was a grunt from somewhere, then the sound of a female giggling. Ichigo's eyebrows raised and he cautiously followed the sound down the hall.

"You better not be doing what it sounds like your doing, Chad."

This time another male voice joined in the laughter, and Ichigo's eyebrows shot into his hair. "What the fuck?"

"Oh calm down, Ichigo." Tatsuki stuck her head around the hallway door and laughed as he jumped. "Don't be such a girl."

He snorted and gave her a shove. "And you know all about being a girl, don't you Tatsuki?" He dodged a punch. "Who else is here? Because you _don't_ giggle, and neither does Chad."

"Inoue and Ishida. Hence the giggling. The nerd's actually being halfway amusing for once." Tatsuki moved aside and delivered another punch to his gut as he moved past. "They're in the kitchen."

Ichigo nodded and tried to ignore the burning sensation in his stomach as it began to bruise. "Did you have to hit me so hard?"

Tatsuki shrugged and followed him towards the kitchen, tucking her hands into her pockets. "It's not like you aren't used to it by now, with Rukia being around. Where is she anyway?"

He let out a tired sigh and ran a hand through his hair, strands of orange following his fingers. "Long story."

She caught up with him and pushed him lightly so that they could both move down the narrow hall side by side, picking up on his frustration. "Good or bad?"

He tensed and didn't answer, so she just nodded and kept stride with him until they entered the kitchen and she had to duck under the flying mass that was Orihime, colliding with Ishida as her best friend full on glomped Ichigo.

Who somehow managed to withstand the mauling for a fairly impressive amount of time, before finally gasping for breath and gently pushing the bubbly young woman away from him. "Can't breathe."

Orihime immediately jumped away, hands flying up to cover her mouth as she gasped. "I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun!" She gasped again as she collided with Ishida. "I'm sorry, Uryu-kun!"

Even though they had become so much closer after the war Orihime had still never dropped the whole _Kurosaki-kun _thing, no matter how often he tried to get her to. In the end, he had given up. She forgot her own name half the time anyway, what with the amount of different things that were always running rampant in her mind, so his was going to be no different. And she only remembered Ishida's because they were together, and she had no time away from him to forget.

"It's okay, Orihime." Ichigo sighed and pushed Ishida out of the way so he could get to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and downing half of it. "Why are you guys all here?"

"We decided we'd all get together and go do something." Tatsuki jumped up onto the bench and stole the bottle out of Ichigo's hands, taking off the cap and drinking some of the water. "But you took so long getting home that we might not now."

"Sorry. I was in the Seireitei."

Chad shifted from his position against the wall and stood up straight, eyeing him carefully. "What happened?"

"I accepted the position."

Ishida pushed his glasses up his nose with the hand that wasn't attached to Orihime's waist, looking confused. "What position?"

"I got offered the Fifth Division taichou position a while ago." Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he moved to lean against the wall beside Chad. "I start in a month."

Orihime frowned. "But you can't be in two places at once, Kurosaki-kun! It's really hard to do!" She paused and bit her lip thoughtfully. "Well, I think it is. I haven't tried it."

"He's not going to be." Tatsuki put the bottle on the bench and crossed her arms. "You're going to move there, aren't you?"

The accusing tone made him flinch. "I don't want to, Tatsuki. But I have to."

She snorted and dropped to the floor. "I'm sure."

_God, she sounds like Karin. _

"Don't start, Tatsuki. I've had enough of this shit from my sister."

"Don't tell me what to do." Vaguely she noticed Ishida moving slightly between her and Ichigo. "You told me you weren't leaving for years!"

"I wasn't." Ichigo dragged a hand down his closed his eyes. "It's just better for everyone if I leave sooner, okay?"

Tatsuki's hands curled into fists. "Don't bullshit me. It's the easy access sex, right?"

"It's nice to know you have so much faith in me, Tatsuki." Ichigo sighed and slid down the length of the wall, sitting on the floor and folding his arms. "It's not because of that."

Tatsuki snorted. "Whatever."

"Rukia left him." All eyes turned to Chad, who just leant back against the wall again. "The clan."

"Oh, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime's hands flew back to cover her mouth again. "I'm so sorry!"

He shrugged and glanced up at Tatsuki, who was still stubbornly keeping herself from looking at him. "I'm not leaving because of Rukia, Tatsuki. This has nothing to do with her. If I had my way, I wouldn't be moving there for a long time. But I don't have a choice."

"Why?" Ishida frowned as he let go of Orihime and tucked his hands into his pockets. "Why has the time been moved forward so much?"

Ichigo ran a hand through his hair and let the loose strands fall to the floor. "I'm losing power quicker than we thought. The stress on my body from the war and from everything else is making me weaker and the longer I manage to keep living for, the more likely it is that my Hollow is going to be able to take control of my power. Urahara thinks its best to discard my body and do the transition from human to full-time shinigami as soon as we can so that he won't have a chance."

Ishida nodded in understanding, and rested a hand on Tatsuki's shoulder to hold her back as she tried to move towards Ichigo. "That makes sense." He tightened his grip. "Leave it, Tatsuki."

She scowled and shook him off. "You're telling the truth? Because if this is some kind of sick joke, Kurosaki, I swear I will kick your arse to Hueco Mundo and back."

Ichigo sighed. "I wouldn't joke about this."

"What about your family, Kurosaki-kun? And school, and work, and…" Orihime paused for a moment, thinking. "And us?"

"I have a deal about visiting with Yami-jii. It'll take a while for me to get the Division sorted, but then I should be able to make it back every now and then to see everyone." He sighed. "I'm just going to have to leave the university, I guess."

Orihime looked a lot happier at that, but Tatsuki's expression didn't change. "Why didn't you tell us about the hollow sooner? Don't you think we deserve to know?"

"I only found out about it today!" He glared up at her and threw his hands in the air. "If I had known sooner, I would have told you, Tatsuki. Stop being so difficult just because you were wrong for once!"

She growled and stomped over, grabbing his collar and leaning down so that they were face to face. "After all the shit you've put us through with this dying crap already, don't you think I'm entitled to it?"

"Yes, you are." Orihime followed her friend, wrapping her hand around Tatsuki's arm and tugging it gently away. "But Tatsuki, I'm upset too. And so is Karin, and Yuzu and everyone else that knows him. But Ichigo can't help what's happening, and I don't think we should make it any harder on him."

Ichigo looked away and swallowed as Tatsuki backed away, eyes wide. "I…I didn't…"

"You didn't think, Tatsuki." Ichigo pulled himself to his feet and rested a hand on her shoulder. "But neither did I."

He had left the room before the double meaning to his words could sink in.

**XXX**

"Kuchiki-fukutaichou!"

Rukia slowed, allowing the stand-in Captain of the Fifth Division to catch up with her. "Momo. You know you can call me Rukia by now, surely."

"It's a habit. Besides, it's the only way to get your attention usually." Momo kept stride easily as they headed towards Thirteenth, one hand resting on the top of her zanpakutou. "How are you? Rangiku told me what happened."

Rukia smiled weakly and nodded her head. "Why doesn't that surprise me? I'm fine, Momo."

The other girl took her sleeve and pulled her to a halt. "Are you, Rukia? Don't lie to me please."

"You're one to talk."

Momo frowned. "That's not the point."

Lying was something that Momo had become very good at after the betrayal of Aizen. She had, naturally, been torn apart by the departure of the captain that she had near worshipped, but in an attempt to appear sane enough to return to duty so that she could distract herself from him, had become an expert at hiding her emotions.

In the end it had done her more harm than good and when faced with her former captain, she had almost lost control, losing her grip on the tightly reined in feelings of resentment and betrayal that she felt towards Aizen.

But when she saw Toushirou lying half-dead at his feet (which was ironic, seeing as they were shinigami), the resentment, slowly began turning into hate.

She hid that too, and as a result almost got half of her unit killed when she eventually did lose control completely, suddenly attacking her former captain the next time she saw him, recklessly releasing her zanpakutou and leading more than twenty half-trained shinigami into a battlefield full of illusions.

The only reason they hadn't been completely wiped out was due to the timely arrival of Ichigo's squad, along with several of the Vaizard and several other squads. While Aizen's Shikai was enough to hold her squad at bay, it had no chance against five of them, a total of over a hundred shinigami. In the end he had gone Bankai, and surprisingly, it was his downfall.

While his Shikai could completely control the sight of a person and partially the mind - allowing him to fool them all with illusions, his Bankai controlled the mind and body completely. It was based on the fact that he had had to have direct physical contact with the person that he wanted to control at some point before the release of it, and seeing as he hadn't released his Bankai in a very long time, barely any of the shinigami were safe.

But the Vaizard were. Having Aizen's Bankai released on you took over your mind and your zanpakutou, but it couldn't control the Hollows that resided within the Vaizard's souls as well. They fought back with little effort, and broke the hold he had on them within seconds of the release. Of course, it had helped that the sheer magnitude of shinigami that he was trying to control reduced the effect of his Bankai, as his power was shared between them and instead of having full control and being able to manipulate them how he wished, they had been turned into living statues, unable to fight back and unable to be moved.

It took a while, but in the end, Aizen (who had been prepared for _everything _that was thrown his way), was slowly overwhelmed by Ichigo as the rest of the Vaizard held off the Arrancar population hell bent on obeying their masters command to annihilate anything that wasn't Hollow.

It didn't take long for the war to finish from there on - there was no one to assume command anymore - and when fake Karakura was demolished along with Aizen's body, everyone had expected Momo to break down. Essentially she did, but it wasn't made apparent to anyone for a long time, adept as she was at hiding her real emotions by now. It wasn't until Rangiku found her in hysterics outside Aizen's old office, firing ball after ball of kidou at his old belongings in the hope of removing any physical memory of him (apart from her scars) that anyone really noticed what was wrong.

It almost destroyed her.

Rukia sighed and tugged her sleeve out of Momo's grasp. "It doesn't matter what the point is, Momo. It's my problem that I screwed up and no one else's. I just wish people would stop asking me about it. "

"That's not going to happen, Rukia."

"Why not?" Rukia began moving towards Thirteenth again, waving absentmindedly at one of her lower seats as they stopped and bowed before continuing on their way. "It's not like he's going to be on my doorstep everyday yet, so why shouldn't I be okay?"

Momo looked away nervously, twisting her hands together as she slowed again. "You haven't heard, have you?"

"Heard what?" Rukia stopped, placing a hand on her friends shoulder and turning to face her properly. "What's going on, Momo?"

Momo sighed and looked at the ground. "He's taken the position, Rukia. He's going to be living here and acting as a taichou as soon as he dies."

Rukia laughed quietly. "Momo, I was expecting that. And I can deal with it. I've got a few years to get over this whole thing anyway."

"I overheard Soi Fon-taichou talking over spirit phone to Yoruichi-sama, Rukia. She was saying something about Ichigo." Momo paused and wrung her hands nervously. "Rukia, they were discussing his death."

"Isn't everyone?"

"Rukia, I heard Soi Fon-taichou saying something about _when _he was going to die."

Rukia sighed, shaking herself out of her reverie and tugging her sleeve from Momo's grasp. "Momo, everyone's laying bets on when he's going to die. I'd be surprised if they weren't doing the same."

"Yes, but now…there's a date set for it, Rukia. He'll be dead in a month."

* * *

_Forgive me for the no line breaks thing... The site stuffed up and I can't edit the chapter properly._

_There you have it! Cessation 12!! Just remember that Aizen's Bankai was designed by Namimakura and myself, so if you want to use, (if that does happen) could you ask one of us first? It took a while to develop - and there are more details being posted within the next few weeks or so on my profile as well. As soon as exams are over, of course._

_And don't forget to check out the other parts of the series, __**Cost **__and __**Coitus!**__ Hope you have the time to review!_

_Thanks!!_


	13. Chapter 13

_I'm sorry it's taken so long!_

_I had been meaning to get this done as soon as I could, but I had exams, and then got inspired by an old fic that I've been meaning to rewrite, then full-time work during the holidays and then my laptop crapped out! HN wanted me to pay 200 dollars to get a new power cord,which, being a struggling student I could not afford! So I've been kinda stuffed cos' I can't get on the Acer all of the time._

_But it's here! And completely unbeta'd!! But oh well!_

_Before we begin though, a **major **shoutout to the most wonderful chick ever, who has been absolutely awesome as I have /ground/ my way through this chapter by providing endless amounts of ego stroking, the one, the only, **MATSUMAMA!!**_

_Make sure you go check out her work, okay? As a special thanks for helping me get this chapter done. _

_And a big thanks to those who have reviewed since the last posting! 135 reviews! You guys rock so hard!_

_Right almost there. Just letting you know that Chapter Three of the **Proposal **threeshot should be out soon, and I hope you have the time to check it out!_

_Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! And have the time to leave a review!_

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"Yuzu?"

"Yes, Karin-chan?" Yuzu glanced up from her plate, frowning slightly as she caught sight of Jinta practically inhaling his food at his place across the table. "Slow down please, Jinta-kun."

He made a face and reached across to steal a bread roll from Karin's plate as she turned to face Yuzu. "Whatever."

"Shut up, Jinta." Karin leant across the table and thumped him on the shoulder before successfully stealing back her food. "Pig."

Jinta stuck his tongue out at her and shovelled more food into his mouth, chewing noisily. "Says you."

"That's really gross, Jinta-kun. Could you please not talk with your mouth full?" Yuzu shook her head at her friend and reached for her glass, taking a sip of water from it before placing it back on the table. "What did you want to tell me, Karin-chan?"

Karin sighed and twirled her fork idly above her plate, gaze fixed on its movement. "I tried ringing Ichigo before dinner."

Yuzu grinned and twisted in her chair to face her sister. "That's great, Karin-chan!"

Jinta snorted. "Not really. She didn't actually talk to him."

"Jinta, stay out of it!" Karin crossed her arms and glared at him, resisting the urge to throw the fork at his smug face. "It's none of your business!"

"Why didn't you talk to him, Karin-chan? Was he not home yet?" Yuzu shook her head at Jinta, who also looked to be dangerously close to throwing something. "Calm down please, Jinta-kun."

Karin looked down at the table again and sighed, shaking her head. "I hung up after the first ring."

Yuzu frowned, but nodded understandingly. "Maybe that's a good thing, Karin-chan. I think you really need to speak to Ichi-nii face-to-face. It's only fair."

"I guess so." Karin stared down at her plate for a few seconds, before pushing back her chair and standing up. "Thanks for dinner, Yuzu."

"But, Karin-chan, you've barely eaten anything!"

Karin shrugged and turned to leave the room. "Sorry Yuzu. I gotta' go somewhere."

"But Otou-san will be home soon! And there's still dessert!"

There was no answer, just the loud thumping of Karin running up the stairs and rushing around their room.

"I take it she's done with this then?" Jinta reached across the table to steal Karin's plate. "Where do you think she's going to go?"

Yuzu just shook her head as a bit of celery sprayed out of Jinta's mouth, rising from her seat and placing her plate in the sink. "I'm not sure, Jinta-kun. But I think I should find out before she goes and does something silly."

With a sigh she turned and left the room, leaving Jinta scowling down at his plate.

"Hey! Am I still gonna' get dessert? Yuzu!"

**XXX**

"Ukitake-taichou?"

Ukitake looked up from his paperwork, brush poised in mid-air as he focussed his gaze on his vice-captain – who was peering around the door to his office. "Yes, Rukia-san?"

Rukia pushed back the door properly and knelt on the mat just inside the threshold, bowing her head respectfully. "May I have a word with you please, Ukitake-taichou? It's a personal matter."

Ukitake smiled and put his brush away, motioning with his free hand towards a chair in the corner of the room. "Of course. Take a seat, Rukia."

She nodded and pulled the chair across to sit in front of his desk, folding her hands in her lap as she avoided his eyes, choosing to stare at one of the paintings behind her captain instead. "It's about Ichigo."

"Ah. I take it you have heard the news then?"

"Yes." She sighed and looked down at her captains desk. "I didn't think it would be so soon, Ukitake-taichou."

"I suppose he didn't either. But there's not a lot we can do about it from what I've heard." Ukitake leant forward in his seat and rested his chin in his hand, scrutinising his vice-captain carefully. "What do you think of the time being cut so short, Rukia?"

"I don't know – I wasn't expecting to have to face him almost straight away. It was hard enough seeing him in the bar, and that was only for a few minutes."

Her captain looked confused. "In the bar?"

"Renji tried to play matchmaker again." Rukia shook her head. "It just made things worse I think, as usual."

Ukitake nodded. "Abarai-fukutaichou has never been one for tact though, has he?"

Rukia allowed herself a small smile. "That's true."

"So putting the encounter at the bar aside, have you had a chance to speak to Byakuya yet?" Ukitake leant back in his seat again, watching as Rukia went an interesting shade of red. "I can assume he wouldn't be hard to find, he's been swamped with paperwork judging by the amount of times Abarai-fukutaichou has been seen sneaking out of the Sixth's office windows since their return."

"It wasn't him. Just Hideyoshi trying to throw his weight around." She buried her head in her hands and twisted her fingers in her hair. "I've screwed up, haven't I? Really screwed up. I can't believe I took his word for it."

Ukitake shrugged, a gesture that looked slightly strange on the captain. "Maybe not. You can always try to fix things, you know."

"How?" Rukia tugged at her hair desperately. "What do I do when I haven't got a chance of Ichigo taking me back?"

Ukitake shook his head and sighed, getting up from his chair and moving around the desk so that he could crouch in front of Rukia. "Do you love him?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Do you think he loves you?"

She sighed. "Maybe. He told me he did at least."

"Then it's simple, Rukia. Do what Ichigo would have done."

Rukia looked confused. "What do you mean, Ukitake-taichou?"

Ukitake smiled and reached forward to rest his hand on her shoulder. "Don't give up just because some hot-headed Kuchiki noble wanted to stroke his ego and somehow managed to catch you off-guard." He removed the hand from her shoulder and smiled gently. "You need to _fight_. Ichigo loves you, Rukia - there will always be a chance."

**XXX**

"Karin-chan?" Yuzu ignored Jinta's blustering behind her and stepped into the hallway, watching as her sister balanced herself against the door as she pulled on her running shoes.

"What?" Karin twisted to face Yuzu, wincing as she knocked her elbow against the wooden doorframe. "Shit."

"Don't swear Karin." Jinta stepped into the hallway and nudged Yuzu as he grinned cockily at Karin. "Look Yuzu, I'm being responsible. Can I have dessert now?"

"Shut up, Jinta. Telling me not to swear is hardly being responsible. And get your own fucking food for once." Karin snorted and swung her bag onto her back, tightening the straps irritably as she turned to leave. "Pain in the arse."

"Karin-chan, where are you going?" Yuzu frowned and reached out to grab her sister's shoulder. "It's going to rain...and please don't swear."

"Sorry. I'm going to see Ichigo."

Yuzu stepped around her and blocked the doorway, looking slightly hurt. "By yourself? But I thought you said you wanted me to come with you?"

Karin shook her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, but I need to do this alone, Yuzu. While I still have the guts to."

With that she opened the door and ran down the street.

**XXX**

In the few minutes that he had been inside, the weather had turned to shit. Wind whipped leaves around his legs as he shouldered his bag again and slammed the door shut behind him, running a hand through his hair as he hurried down the path towards the pile of junk masquerading as a car that his father had bought for him when he had passed his licence. The idiot still insisted that it was a machine built for speed with precise aerodynamics, but the reality was that it was a miracle if the damn thing started within the first ten tries. Not to mention it was upholstered in orange leather – which Ichigo thought was Isshin's idea of a bad joke which had caused endless months of teasing from his friends.

Ichigo swore as he fumbled for the keys in his pocket (he only bothered locking the useless thing because the driver's door swung open of its own accord when not secured) and threw his bag into the back of the car. He yanked the door shut behind him as he slid into the tattered seat, locking it before it could fly open and jammed the key into the ignition, sighing in relief when the engine started on the second turn of the key.

He drove on autopilot for most of the distance towards Karakura, only snapping out of his reverie when something darted in front of the car and he was forced to slam on the brakes, swearing loudly as he felt the back end come loose and the car stall. Heart still racing from the shock, he coaxed the engine back into life – gesturing rudely at the object that had almost sent him off the road, straining to get a better look at the thing so that he could open the window and yell at it some more.

Wait...was that _Karin_?

Ichigo swore again and pulled across the opposite lane to the curb on the other side of the road, rolling down the window as he slammed the car into reverse and pressed down on the accelerator so that he could catch up with her – precariously driving backwards along the empty street. "Hey!"

She looked back, her eyes widening as she spotted the car following her and started running faster – glancing back over her shoulder at him as she went, probably expecting him to give chase. Which in any other circumstance would have made him secretly proud at the fact that his sister actually had some common sense locked away in her thick skull – but today, it just made things more difficult for him.

"Karin!"

She stopped running, and turned to face the car. "Ichigo?"

Ichigo nodded, despite the fact they Karin probably couldn't see him through the rain and turned off the engine. "What are you doing all the way out here, Karin? It's pissing down."

She hung her head and stepped closer. "I needed to talk to you."

Ichigo shook his head and reached into the back seat, grabbing his spare coat from the worn leather and tossing it out the window at her. "Get in."

She hesitated for a second and he ran his palm down his face with a frustrated sigh. "Get _in _Karin. I may be pissed off at you, but I'm certainly not going to let my sister stand out in the rain and freeze her arse off. So hurry up and get in the damn car."

She nodded and pulled off her backpack, pulling on his jacket as she circled around the front of the car and opened the door carefully before sliding into the worn seat, refusing to meet Ichigo's gaze as she fastened her seatbelt. "Sorry."

He ignored her and started the car yet again, pulling back across the lane and merging easily with the traffic headed in the direction of Karakura. They drove in awkward silence for a while, Karin fiddling nervously with the straps of her bag as she watched the window wipers swish back and forth across the windscreen and Ichigo focussing solely on the road in front of them.

"Ichigo?"

He sighed and glanced over at her. "Yeah?"

Karin shifted in her seat to face him, shivering slightly despite the fact that the heater was blowing warm air directly onto her. "Are you still mad at me?"

"Depends."

She frowned at his half-arsed answer. "On what?"

"You believe me yet?"

Karin bowed her head at the harshness in his tone. "I guess so. I mean, Yuzu told me everything..."

Ichigo tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for her to continue, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "And?"

She pulled his jacket tighter around her. "I'm sorry for not trusting you, Ichigo. And for being a bitch and accusing you of just wanting to be with Rukia and please don't throw me out of the car?"

Ichigo snorted. "I'm not going to throw you out of the car, Karin. Jesus, you've been hanging around with Jinta too much - I didn't know stupidity was actually contagious. I'm much more creative than _that._"

Karin scowled and crossed her arms. "Hey, watch it."

Ichigo smiled slightly and reached out to give her shoulder a shove. "It's true. The boy's an idiot. I don't know what Yuzu sees in him."

Karin nodded, not sure what to say. It was weird, bantering like this again - especially since it hadn't even been that long since they'd been at each other's throats.

There was slightly awkward silence again, until Ichigo sighed and half turned to face her in his seat as they pulled up at an intersection. "I'm sorry, Karin. I should have told you as soon as I knew about this."

"We had enough to worry about Ichigo. You were right to wait." She scowled. "Don't you dare say anything."

Ichigo threw a cocky grin her way. "About me always being right?" He sobered and rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'm still sorry about everything though - you deserved to know straight away."

Karin shrugged and they sat in a now more comfortable silence until Ichigo pulled the car up outside the clinic and she turned to face him - twisting her bag straps between her fingers again.

"So...we're both forgiven?" She coughed and made a face. "Sorry, that sounded really cheesy."

Ichigo just grinned and moved his hand up to ruffle her hair. "Yeah. We're forgiven."

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_Please don't hate on me! I really do hope that you liked the chapter - and have the time to review! Thanks for reading!_


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